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Attacked by a herd of deer in Princeton, NJ

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Had one of the oddest driving experiences I've ever had today. This afternoon, near the Princeton Junction train station, a large herd of deer ran across the road. Most ran in front of or behind my car, but unfortunately one plowed directly into the driver's side, taking out the mirror, and rolling over the hood, windshield, and roof. As you can see from the back-view video it appears the last deer (limping a little) delayed compared to the rest of the herd is the one that hit the car, but it was seemingly semi-OK as it was able to run away at least. So glad to have TeslaCam and be able to share this with all of you (and the insurance adjuster).

Tesla Deer Incident - YouTube
 
This forum needs a "Wow" react. He plowed right into you!

I hit a deer once in my previous car; my three-month-old Impreza's front grill was cracked, but that was the extend of the damage. Fortunately I wasn't going fast, but the timing really sucked (new car!)

I've seen cars totaled by deer, so I think we both got off easy. Still nerve-wracking. Good luck with the repairs
 
Yeah, came right at me, even as all his deer-buddies went in front or behind. I was almost at a stop, which I still contend was the right thing to do, but makes it even more frustrating that I still got hit. But it doesn't seem to have damaged anything critical - going to the SC tomorrow and should know then if it's just cosmetic stuff or goes deeper requiring a body-shop visit.
 
I’ve seen deer jumping across highways and roadways while driving but never in what looks like a residential area. I realize in Calif they come down into neighborhoods and eat plants and such (why there are deer resistant landscaping options), but I’ve never witnessed that. Glad you weren’t hurt but sad for your car. Will be curious what the damages run. Is that something insurance will handle and do you get dinged if you go thru insurance? Video might help if filing. Gotta love our TeslaCams.
 
Yeah, here in my part of Central NJ it's mostly a mix of farmland and residential areas, and they were in this case running through people's yards. I'm planning to put another post up here once I have the final outcome on cost and parts from the body shop - repairs haven't begun yet because: it happened on a Sunday (then lost Monday the 17th to President's Day), the 18th I had my HW3 retrofit scheduled and didn't want to miss my opportunity (SC nicely worked around the deer-damage), got it back from SC the 19th and took it to the body shop, they ordered parts (the ones we know about so far) on the 20th, had them all on hand by the 25th... But don't have a tech available to start on it until Monday the 2nd.

The parts we know about are the driver's mirror, the windshield, and a part where the hood meets the door. They think they can fix the dent in the door, and the window seal with a window realignment, and that the roof and hood don't need to be replaced either. We'll see once they get in there and start trying.

As for insurance, I was driving for Uber at the time (I have an essay about ridesharing in a Tesla partly completed) with a passenger in the car, so it's going through Uber's insurance coverage. I don't have a premium or anything for that so nothing changes as a result of the collision (though there is a $1000 deductible the driver incurs).

The Uber insurance process had a form to upload a description and photos, but there was no way to upload video or a YouTube link. Turns out they didn't care, as the adjuster I spoke to on the phone said it was so obvious from the pictures (which included deer hair stuck in the mirror, and dirt-smears where it had made contact with the car) what had happened, and that there wasn't any attempt to determine fault, that they didn't even need the video. It was useful, however, in convincing my wife that I wasn't mis-speaking when I said "a deer hit me" and she responded "I think you mean you hit a deer." She was calling BS until I showed her the video.
 
As for insurance, I was driving for Uber at the time (I have an essay about ridesharing in a Tesla partly completed) with a passenger in the car, so it's going through Uber's insurance coverage. I don't have a premium or anything for that so nothing changes as a result of the collision (though there is a $1000 deductible the driver incurs).

Thanks for the update. Out of curiosity, where was the passenger sitting at the time ?
 
Got the car back yesterday, after nearly a month in the shop. Total repairs $8650, comprising (from what I can decode from the cryptic parts list) the mirror, windshield, front half of the glass roof, door, window, window motor, and some other smaller items that I'm not sure precisely what they are.

Almost 9 grand worth of damage from a couple seconds of contact.
 
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