I was cautiously optimistic, tending almost towards excitement, about Christmas this year. I’m mostly getting along with almost everyone, and Daddy didn’t spend the Christmas money on brakes this year. (As a matter of fact, Daddy got his car inspected without any issues, got the oil and filters changed, got a minor repair done, and Daddy’s new vehicle registration is in the mail and should get here before Christmas.)
You know what depresses me at this time of year, though? (“Almost everything!” cries the peanut gallery.) They’re not too far off. But one thing that gets under my skin is car wrecks.
We live in a part of town where car wrecks are a distressingly common sight. The roads are heavily trafficked and carrying more than designed capacity. But car wrecks at Christmas really get me down.
I see someone with the whole front end of their car smashed to heck: obviously, this is a total loss. The ambulance is standing around nearby, and even if it doesn’t look like anyone was badly hurt, I’m thinking to myself what a shame it is. The kids were looking forward to that Playstation 5 (sorry, Playstation V) or the XBox 720 (“now with tint control!”) or the new Banana PCJR Pro, Mom goes out to the grocery store, and both parents come home hours later. “Sorry, kids. No Christmas this year. The car’s totaled and we’ve got to get a new one.”
I know I’m probably stretching a little: out here, I think everyone has comprehensive on their cars, and they’re probably not out more than the deductible (and the gap, if they don’t have gap insurance). But it still bothers me.
The other problem out here, oddly enough, is deer. The hooved rodents are belligerent and numerous, there’s strong opposition to doing anything about them (“They’re so cute! How dare you trap them!”), and people frequently have unpleasant encounters with them, even on heavily trafficked roads like RM 620 or SH 71. Our next door neighbor hit one a few weeks ago: it didn’t do a lot of damage from what I could tell, but her car was in the shop for a bit.
Last night, it was my turn. We were driving back from dinner down a two-lane road that’s a shortcut between US 290 towards Dripping and SH 71 towards Lakeway/Bee Cave when one bounded across the road in front of us. I saw it out of the corner of my eye as it was crossing the road towards the driver’s side but didn’t even have time to react: we clipped it pretty solidly on the passenger side.
The good news is, the car’s driveable: there’s some loose plastic around the passenger side wheel, and a fairly large dent in what I’d call the under-bumper. But there’s no hood damage, the headlights still work, and I think the front running light on that side does as well. There’s no evidence that the engine compartment took a hit, and I don’t see any fluids leaking. And the airbags didn’t go off.
I know it could have been a lot worse: we could have hit it square on and done more damage, it could have ended up going through the windshield into the passenger compartment…as I said, the car’s driveable, we have coverage, and Mom’s calling the insurance company Monday morning. We may even have dashcam footage if I can find it.
I guess what I’m trying to say this holiday season is: be careful. Look both ways. Turn with a light when you can, even if it takes you a little out of your way. Don’t pull a U-turn in the middle of the highway.
And if you’re in an area where it is hunting season and you have a license, take as many deer as you legally can.
I worked in the same steel melt shop for 35 years, and drove from my hometown to there, a distance of around 40 miles one way, for 15 years. In that time, I hit 4 deer with my various cars. 2 were killed, and 2 got up and ran off.
One of the ones that ran off was huge, and I was driving a Ford Escort. The deer hit me on the side front, flipped over the top, and all I saw in the window was antlers and horns. This was in front my neighbors place, about a mile down the road. That fall, his grandson killed a 10 point buck that was walking with a limp, with his bow. I am pretty sure that it was the same deer.
I got a divorce, moved in with my parents and joined a rock band, playing mostly saxophone,plus some guitar, for a few years. I moved closer to my work, so it was only 10 miles, and 20 minutes drive. I never did figure out if it was a better thing to buy a new car, a well used car, or a car that was just a few years old. The high miles I put on them each year just killed them, no matter how I did it.
I do have to say that the cars that they are building now are light years ahead of the cars that we had back then. We used to get close to 100,000 miles on a car, and we wanted to get rid of it, so it didn’t nickle and dime us to death. Now, at that kind of mileage, a car is just getting it’s sea legs,and will go another 100,000 miles. Detroit car makers have done a very good job, and I appreciate it.