Deer are beautiful animals, but once they’re on the roadway, they represent a real hazard. Here in Massachusetts, on average, once every two hours, someone hits a deer. That’s the fall peak, between October and December, with most accidents occurring during the dark evening hours. At other times of year, deer vs. car collisions are still pretty frequent.
What type of damage can hitting a deer do to your car?
As an auto body shop near East Bridgewater, we can say the types of damage we see most frequently in deer vs car collisions happen in the front end. The headlights, signal lights, and running lights are all vulnerable to damage, as is the entire front bumper assembly.
Deer often weight one hundred pounds or more. Impacting one can result in significant damage to your car’s hood. Windshield damage is also very common. Less frequently, there can be damage to either the driver or passenger’s side door, depending on where the deer entered the roadway.
And of course, in an accident, nothing is impossible. Sometimes the worst part of a deer vs car collision accident occurs after the deer has been hit and the car continues off the roadway or into another vehicle. Very occasionally a deer will cause an accident without being involved: when a driver hits the brakes to avoid hitting a deer and gets rear-ended by a driver who was following too closely.
Cosmetic and Mechanical Damage Caused By Deer Collisions
The damage to your car caused by a collision with a deer can be cosmetic – dents in the hood or door – or it can be mechanical, such as an impact that causes damage to the wheels. When getting your car fixed after hitting a deer, you want to be sure to choose a collision center that inspects for both kinds of damage. It’s important that your car looks showroom perfect, of course, but you also want it to be safe to drive.
