weekend visit with a deer

So normally in the fall we, with one or two other families, drive along the 'Circuit du Paysans' to visit different shops and pick up artisinal goods. We do this usually two or three times each fall.

http://lecircuitdupaysan.com/en/

On the route we were about here (https://goo.gl/OgnYGS) when our van struck a deer who dashed from the woods on the left side of the road crossing right in front of our van at the same moment that the van was cruising at around 70kph. The impact was instantaneous and there was no time for reacting; the deer did a flip in the air and crashed to the ground on the grass at the side of the road. It most likely died on impact.

Here are two photos of the van damage.

Fortunately the van was the lead car as if it was one of the two cars behind, the deer would have crashed into the windshield and would likely have injured the occupants. It was also fortunate that my wife, who was driving the van at the time of the impact, did not break violently as if she had, it is possible the middle car would have crashed into the van, and the third car, the one I was in, crashed into the middle one. Finally, it was fortunate that no one was injured.

Of course, it was unfortunate for the deer, and unfortunate for our van. We will be finding out in the next day or so what the situation is with the van - as it is already ten years old and very rusty, it is possible we will decommission the van and get a new vehicle. We'll have to see what the insurance says about it.