I'm glad you're OK!

Yep, we're going to put a "new" headlight enclosure in it (as soon as I can locate one at the junkyard) and do a little work with a hammer so the passenger side front door opens all the way and call it done. With 172,000 miles or so on it I'm not going to put a lot of $$$ into it. It's main use is as a commuter anyway.

Thank you people , I'm glad I'm ok too.. I wish the same could be said for the deer or my car, that is gonna cost me a lot to repair..

It is very scary to see how they just appear right in front of you and there is absolutely nothing you can do. I always try to make myself feel better thinking that it could have been worse, and it could have for sure on this occasion as I was driving on the motorway and there were cars on the other lane .. I'm also lucky that it didn't go through my windscreen..

Not so lucky for others

I realise that.. I hit it sideways with my windscreen..

They just spring out into the road and if there's one there's usually more. You were very lucky Ana...even though the car may cost you it is disposable.

I had to look at the license plate in the pic above in Ray's post. That's exactly what happened to the husband of a woman I knew. A spike (or whatever it's called) from the antler went straight into the guy's heart.

My fear is hitting a dear and having to witness it writhing around until the cops arrive. We have called the cops several times because we've had injured deer on our property.

Will Insurance cover the damage ..??

I'll call them but I don't think I have an insurance that covers that, I've never felt the need to have a comprehensive (is it called collision here?) insurance.. Maybe I should consider it now..

or spend the money on deer bars

MR A wants to get those for his truck.. He says if he hits a deer that grill will cut it and package it ready for the fridge

The trouble with what we call "cattle guards" is that if a truck like that hits a smaller car.... the damage is horrific. A drunk driver ran a red light and hit a former boss of mine.... killed my ex-boss on impact.

I can completely relate to the deer situation as we have them around here by the droves. We do allow hunting to cull numbers and send the extra meat to Mexico for the hungry folks. This is a case where I am in strong support of hunting because otherwise the deer will starve, and they create a terrific traffic hazard. They will also eat up people's home gardens unless said gardens are protected with strong chicken baling and they will gird and kill a tree unless the trunk is also protected. These are fairly urban neighbourhoods and still... we have to use things like this:

Am I correct in thinking that many of those bars can prevent the airbags from functioning correctly and may affect insurance claims? I've heard various stories over the years but don't know if it's true.

They can certainly dissipate the energy .... that's what they are there for.... but if they dissipate to the point that the air bags don't deploy then they've served their purpose.

http://www.truckstuffusa.com/grilleguardssteps.html

There was some talk about this in dingo a few years back ..
but no evidence .. it seems unlikely

they mess up the crumple zone though...that and bull bars are a solid impact and can kill someone at 5mph v a 50/50 chance of survival at 30mph