Unfortunately I totalled my gladiator, can't believe airbags didn't go off

[ShadowsPapa]

Same issue here. In winter months, I see at least 1-3 deer on the side of the road daily. Daily.... Thats a lot of impact. Unfortunately our deer/elk populations here are not doing very well.

Yeah, just going to church and back last night, same here, saw 2 deer kills (my wife was driving the loaner and I wasn't paying that much attention other than being "look out" for critters with their eyes glowing)
October/November are heavy times as it's rut season. And with the fields opened up, harvest over, they've been scrambled around and seeking other cover or food. Hunters are also stirring them up making road crossings more likely.

Bottom line - be careful out there, be aware that are on the move. 'tis the season (but can be any time of year around here)

This could even chip your windshield, I suppose........

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[whysoserious]

Worse yet - they often act in teams of 2 or more. One will distract you while the other jumps to the attack. I've seen it personally. They are clever, devious, creatures.
They travel in gangs.
They can be like a cat stalking your Jeep as if it's prey.

Sounds like...

 

[Towzone100]

So unfortunately a deer ran into the front side of my gladiator and I swirved and hit a pool. We are fine, but I can't believe the air bags didn't go off.
Frane is bent, front us pushed into the motor and some of the front parts on the motor broke off and the trans got messed up (I am assuming from loosing trans fluid).
Went a put a deposit on a Used Mojave yesterday, same color as this one.

Glad your ok

 

[Sprinkler-Fitter]

So do you, or anyone else, happen to know how things work for removing accessories? I'm sure it's situational dependent.... But many of us have a lot of money tied up in these things that will never be covered under insurance. Tents, lift, bumpers, etc... Things that can be ejected if not secured. I would like to think that there would be sufficient time allowed for these items to be removed especially if insurance won't even consider them in an appraisal. Then again I wouldn't put it past them to not allow that so they can get more money from the scrap yard.

That is only because most people don’t take the time to talk with your insurance agent.

Worse yet - they often act in teams of 2 or more. One will distract you while the other jumps to the attack. I've seen it personally. They are clever, devious, creatures.
They travel in gangs.
They can be like a cat stalking your Jeep as if it's prey.

Iowa has luckily dropped on the list but for a while we were number 2 or 3 out of all states for vehicle/deer impacts or something like that.

When I farmed south of Clear Lake, I had a neighbor who drove a huge Mercury - a big full-sized car. One day his wife drove their car to Mason City for shopping. On the way back home she hit and killed a deer.
That same evening, they went back to town for supper and on the way back, HE was driving that same car - hit and killed a buck.
I saw the car the next day - I could not tell it had hit anything at all. Looked fine.

I had a Mercury years ago, forget the model, the hood was about 10’ long it seemed, I was in a accident with a car and it totaled the other car, my Mercury has a little dimple on the bumper from there trailer

 

[RidingDonkeys]

There is a common misconception that all accidents trigger airbags. You need two conditions to trigger an airbag, threshold deceleration and proper direction. It is completely possible to have an accident, even intentionally cause a crash, and not deploy an airbag. I used to teach this to students preparing for assignments where they might find themselves trying to get off the X in whatever vehicle was available. It's pretty easy to do.

Crumple zones don't help the misconception. You can hit a thin object, like a pole, at a relatively low speed and destroy your front end. The crumple zones will crumple and slowly decelerate you while leaving the illusion of a high speed crash. My guess is that you slowed that Jeep down quite a bit before hitting that pole.

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