only backgroundI'm a wife, mother and grandmother. I'm opinionated. I contradict myself frequently. Most of all, I love my kids. I believe in them. I fight for them. They're weird and wonderful. If you want to know more, here's a bunch of other stuff from my old site.
Machine Dreams Nightmares
- by Marisa
- July 14, 2008
File this under “Can we rewind and do this day over?”
Some of you may remember seeing pictures of my pretty sports car here. It’s lots of fun to drive but it really isn’t practical for me right now. Last year I put less than 450 miles on it. So we sold the car to my son, Jesse. Of course, he paid less for it than the blue book price, but it was still a hefty amount. When Jesse returned from Hawaii, we had the title transferred over to him and within a few days he was driving his car.
Whenever he wasn’t driving it, he’d hand me the keys and tell me to go ahead and take it if I needed to go anywhere. I kept thinking that I would do that but hadn’t yet. And now it will be a long time before I get to take it out at all.
You see, Jesse has issues with deer. And we have a huge deer population in West Virginia. People have actually died in car accidents involving deer around here. Jesse has had three run-ins with deer.
Okay, make that four.
Jesse had been out and was driving up our hill when a deer ran out into the road. Jesse swerved which is a good choice given the size of Jesse’s car in comparison to the size of the deer. Unfortunately, the car sits low, the drop off is at least 8 inches and then dips even farther into a ravine and Jesse’s beautiful S2000 got sucked toward the hillside. And landed like this:
I’m not sure if you can appreciate the angle at which that car is resting. That’s at least a 45 degree slope. (Tammie? If you’re reading this, what would your estimate be?) Understand also that there are parts of this two-lane STATE road that have no guardrail on the opposite side where the road drops completely off for a hundred feet or so. This would explain why we’re just so grateful that Jesse swerved toward the hill instead of toward the side that drops way way down. Anyway, here’s another shot from the other direction, so you can see how he landed.
Someone from our local government drove by and noted that the state, after repaving the road, did not properly grade that side. An 8 inch drop is dangerous. Several people have suggested we contact a car and truck accident lawyer to find out if the state is liable for any of the damages. Jesse’s insurance adjuster has been notified and will look at the road when he comes to inspect the car. We’ll see what he says.
Oh, and you can be sure I’ll be giving a full review of Jesse’s insurance company. So far, they’ve been responsive and helpful. We’ll see if they come through with putting Jesse car back to the mint condition it had been. Or at least nearly so.
For now, I’m so glad my son is okay. I’m glad that the Brooke County deputy who responded was helpful, noted that Jesse was sober and assisted us as much as he did. I’m also glad that after pulling the car from the ravine, Jesse was able to drive it the 1/4 mile to our house rather than having to have it towed. We’re hoping that the frame is solid and the car can be repaired. Please send good thoughts our way.
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Oh my gosh, Marisa! Thank God he was okay!!!
Yes, it could have been much worse, considering the kind of car it is. Jesse was just beside himself when it happened. I guess after three years in Hawaii, he just forgot about watching for deer.
I can definitely see how easy it would have been for this to be a tragedy. Thank God everyone (including the deer) is alright!
Including the deer? LOL! I hate deer. They’re so destructive. I might just take up hunting to do my part to thin out the herd. Then Jesse can stop hunting them down with his car.
I’m just glad he swerved LEFT instead of RIGHT! That ditch is unreal, yes, but the other side drops off into a deep ravine. The results there would have been even worse, I’m sure.
Exactly. I can’t imagine what would have happened if he’d gone over the cliff on the other side. I know some of the old people along that road feed the deer. That’s why there are so many crossing. I really hate deer.
(And you’ll note that I didn’t stay in bed long. I’m yawning but I’m right back at my computer.)
So glad he is okay. Tom is a deer magnet and has hit so many with his truck that he has a salvage title on it now. He has also hit 2 deer with the van and of course he has hit deer with his semi. Thankfully he has never been hurt in any of those accidents. Deer scare me!
I guess we should never let Tom and Jesse drive together, huh? Isn’t that funny how some people just seem to attract them? Someday I’ll tell you about my husband’s crash history. It’s really colorful!
I’m glad to hear your son is OK. Hopefully the frame of the car is OK and you can have it all fixed and he can be behind the wheel in no time.
We have lots and lots of deer out here. So when your done getting rid of your population, stop by here and get rid of mine too. OK??
Will do.
I’m so glad your son is OK. We have a lot of deer here in Arkansas, too, which explains why my old van had a battered front cap. Both kids hit deer with it, and Brandon also hit a deer with his little pickup truck…all in the space of about 2 months. I see deer nearly every night on my way home from work and they always run across the road in front of me.
Deer can be such a dangerous animal when combined with traffic. I’m definitely sending good thoughts your way!
I’m certain Jesse was just so unaccustomed to deer since he’d been gone for so long. In Hawaii, all you have to dodge are the chickens.
mommy that was supposed to be my car next=/
oh and im gonna need u to fix my laptop=]
i love youu
You’ll have to talk to Jesse about the car.
I’ll look at your laptop later today. And I love you, too.
I’m glad your son is OK. I used to love deer. Until I read this and the comments, that is. We only have stray cats and dogs once in awhile, squirrels and wild rabbits crossing the street. I swear, they look out for traffic, though. I’ve watched them. Weird.
Yes, thank God that he is all right. While it may be a difficulty concerning the car right now, it’s a blessing that he didn’t hit the deer.
I had a run in with a deer one very dark night. The car I had was an older standard size (then). It trashed the car’s front end. Too much to fix it. The deer died. If I had been in a car that size, I would have been injured or worse.
Thank God he is fine and that he did not go to the other side.
Is that a Honda S2000? That’s heart breaking, at least Jesse had car insurance, unlike the deer! Hope all involved are OK!
Marisa, I’m so glad your son is alright. It does look like he had an angel with him that night..
Hope all is well with you and the insurance adjusting goes well.
Dorothy from grammology
That road sounds very dangerous after that road construction. Thank goodness everyone was ok. Deer always are eating at my gardens, but I still think it’s so sad seeing one on the side of the road.
My friend had a run in with a deer one very dark night. The car The car he got was a bit new.It trashed the car’s front end. Too much to fix it. The deer died. If I had been in a car that size, I would have been injured or worse.