Well, it had to happen sometime, I guess.

I was driving this morning on two lane road towards I-95 on my way from SC to FL. I was going around 55mph. It was sunny, calm, no clouds and no rain.

It just happened in split second. The deer literally came out of nowhere. The eye witness later told me the deer was running full force from my left side exactly perpendicular to my vehicle. It was just one deer, no herd. So a good size buck hit my vehicle exactly in front on driver's side.

I felt the impact, the eye witness later told me I threw this buck about 10-15 feet up in the air. I was lucky as the deer could have gone thru my windshield and really hurt me. I was not hurt, just shaken by the experience.

My vehicle got strongly damaged. An eye witness, a gentleman in a pickup truck coming the opposite direction stopped and helped me. He pulled all the broken plastic, glass and some metal as to free up my front wheel and I was able to slowly drive car back home.
Here are the pictures after the crash:

Attachment 9656Attachment 9657

Here is my car after being cleaned up of debris and rigged so I can drive back home:

Attachment 9658Attachment 9659

And here is the deer that met it's unfortunate and early demise:

Attachment 9660

So, why I am posting this on the motorcycle forum?

If I was on my bike I would have been dead for sure. I probably would have been badly hurt if I was in my little convertible, Toyota MR2 Spyder, too. This vehicle has protected me and even got me back home.

Events like this really bring to light the risks we assume every time we get behind the handlebars. There was no reaction time, literally nothing could have been done here. I've came across deer before when I was able to slow down or stop, but this time the kamikazi deer was unstoppable.

So, I'm sitting in my family room, thinking about how fast everything happened, reevaluating my riding habits. I love riding, but I also love my wife and kids immeasurably more. Is my passion worth the risk like this? Events like these cannot be prevented if happened again.

I'm not sure yet what I would do. I would definitely try to learn from this experience. Maybe ride slower in these areas, always wear all protective gear no matter what, pay even more attention to my left and right, etc. But ultimately, this kind of situation is unavoidable.

It definitely makes me think about my life, family, future, God etc. I must have done something good in my life as I was spared today. I must have some unfinished work still left to do.

I do want to continue to ride. Just not right away. I think.