Fuel for Thought

Frankly, My Deer, I Don't Have the Foggiest...

Well, it took more than three decades, nearly four, of driving. From late nights on lonely highways to early mornings catching up to rush hour traffic. More than 3 million miles traveled, I guess it was just time.

If you drive a lot, you get a feel for where certain things will be. Especially wildlife. I know that where I live and park my truck, wildlife abounds. We have all manner of critters roaming the woods and the country roads. I have managed to avoid hitting any large animals, but the occasional squirrel or bird can be hard to miss without causing a crash. A deer on the other hand can really do some damage to a truck if you hit it wrong. It was just after 0300 (3 AM). I saw the doe up ahead, on the left shoulder of the two lane road, eyes glinting in my fog lights. Slow down. Watch for direction of movement. 30 MPH>25 MPH>...It seems to be walking away from the road…slow to 20 MPH…oh crap it just doubled back running across the road. 15 MPH > … (bump)... Oh #@!%.

Flashers on, pull over. No deer in sight. There is a little fur around where the fog light used to be. The fog light is dragging by the wire harness. Disconnect the light. Tape up the end of the wire harness to keep it clean and dry. Look around with a flashlight, still no deer in sight. Well, at least it is driveable. As I was looking around, a log truck passed me by doing at least 45 MPH, if he had hit that deer at his speed, he would have most likely had a lot more damage than I had. Slow down and expect the wildlife to cross your path, they don’t always wait for the crossing sign.

If you are going to hit a large animal, this has got to be one the best case scenarios. A slight bump, minimal damage. No major components were damaged. 

Frankly, my deer, I don’t have the foggiest idea how it didn’t even get the headlamp. I am glad it didn’t, you can legally drive without fog lights, but not without headlamps.

Now let’s just hope it is another 3 or 4 decades before it happens again.

Be safe out there.

Watch your mirrors, your roads and especially the shoulders.

What a piece of garbage this smart car is. There's a commercial - the smart car has zero percent interest for six years. Well, good, I got zero percent in six years in buying this smart car. I'll tell you that much. I mean, it's ridiculous. My buddy has a smart car. He totaled it. He hit a deer tick. 

-   Larry the Cable Guy

See you down the road,

Greg