Date:         Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:46:08 -0700
Reply-To:     john schaper <tahljohn@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         john schaper <tahljohn@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Subject:      Oh Deer, Oh Deer
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

And my related story:  About 6 years ago driving in western Rural Nevada at night in the fall.  Barreling along doing 70 in my '85 Vanagon.  Bam!  Hit a deer head on.  Stopped to view the damage--usual front end body damage, leaking radiator--decided to drive on in order to get closer to a town.  After about 4 miles, had to pull over and get a tow.  While I covered the damage with a bra, I had to replace the radiator and bumper.  The lights on both sides were OK.  The cop who stopped to ask what happened, drove back to view the carnage; came back and reported he had never seen a deer as dismembered as that one.
 
My moral:  I don't care what Tom or Ray from Car Talk say, the vanagon is an incredibly safe and sturdily constructed vehicle.  I feel safer in it than in either my Eclipse or Cadillac, having seen how it withstands a hit on an adult deer at 70 mph.  Oh, I also learned to slow down when I see that orange, diamond shaped deer sign.