[minigolf]

Yep, if you're thinking the worst after reading that thread title, keep on thinking it.

Tonight at about 6:30pm I hit a baby roo head on. The roo would have been about 3-4ft tall I reckon. Pretty hard to guesstimate speed at the time of impact but from impact to where I stopped on the side of the road would have been around 20m. No airbags deployed which is a good thing all round, and the fact that I am sitting here writing this is testament to the fact that the airbags were not required. Phew!

He must have hit right on the supercharger intake, perhaps a bit below, but the intake was all pushed in and there is damage to the radiator and supercharger too I imagine. He didn't hit the windscreen, just a fair smattering of coolant and roo insides on the screen. I wouldn't be surprised if at least every panel forward of the A pillar needed replacing. Xenons are all intact and still working. There doesn't appear to be any damage to the wheels or tyres, although in the dark it is very hard to tell. Haha, the bonnet stripes, while crumpled, are all in one piece!

The car was towed, I may have been able to drive it, but I doubt it. I sat in the car for about a minute after it happened before gathering my thoughts and getting out. For that minute the car was still running and it was only after about 15 seconds or so of steam rising that I turned off the car.

The weird thing was I could not get out of the driver's side door. This worried me mostly as I figured the damage must be worse than I first thought if the door would not open. Even toggling the central locking switch would not open the door. I was able to get out through the passenger's side door without problem. Once out of the car I tried opening the driver's door, which was sitting proud of the rest of the car by about 5mm, but still no luck. Continuing on the weird theme, the interior light stayed on for approximately 15 minutes after I got out of the car. It then went out. A bit later while waiting for the tow truck I thought I'd try the driver's door again. It opened without even needing to depress the handle mechanism. I then opened and shut the door a few times with no apparent troubles. Oh well, will keep an eye on that during the repair.

Recounting the accident it was almost like watching a WRC stack on replay, you see it coming, you know impact is near. Then, you see and hear the impact and plastic crumpling and breaking, but you're safe in your lounge chair. The only thing different really was that I didn't just try and drive off like a madman as if nothing happened!

So, how was your drive home from work! It could have been much worse I guess, but still a bugger hey.



Cheers, depressed and upset
Liam

Edit: added some pics.

[ScottyB]

oh GEEZ Liam!

So sorry to hear mate....

[IML337]

Like I said on the phone Liam, sorry to hear You're OK though, so that's the important part. Hopefully it's all sorted out quickly and without hassles

I know the feeling from when I ran into the back of another car a few months back, and it's not a great one It showed me how safe our little cars are though! Chin up, it'll be back before you know it

[MickyD]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[poki]

I am so sorry to hear about this Liam.

*hugs*

[ButtonIt]

So sorry to hear that dude I knew Roos could make a fair bit of damage but that sounds incredible, and it was a BABY roo??

I dread to think of what a fully grown one might do.

I'm glad you're ok though, and I hope most of the damage is just superficial. Good luck with the repairs mate. Is this kind of thing covered by insurance out there?

[gazah]

what a sh17 liam... keep us posted!

[Todd!]

DAAAAAMMMMMNNNNN brother....

This is my big thought when I go through the pineys on the wat to MT G!! I've had some close calls in the 02!!

Smiles cause your ok!!
Best of luck for a quick, quality fix...

Todd

[Amigo]

Really sorry to hear about your misfortune Though its good to hear that your safe. I hope you have a trouble-free comeback

I guess, it would also be kind to spare a thought for the roo's loss of life.

[robbo mcs]

Hi.

Ouch

I recently ran into a roo on a mini drive day Obviosuly I was lucky The roo I ran into was around 2-3ft tall, and hit on the passenger side of the front bumper bar. The damage included the light pod, front bumper bar, reinforcement bar and front quarter panel. Fortunately the bonnet / radiator etc was OK

The good new is that all is now fixed, and looks great

Fortunately, under my insurance policy (NRMA) it was all covered without a loss of no claim Animal hits are considered not at fault

However, as soon as I got the car back from the smash repair shop things took a turn for the worse. I was stopped at a set of red lights when a girl talking on a mobile ran into my rear me at significant speed Now the car has to go in to be fixed again

Cheers

Robbo

[Darryl]

Sorry top hear about it Liam.

Stupid animals aren't they, my wife has hit numerous ones (not in the Mini thank goodness) that just sit there on the roadside and then hop out at the last minute. It'll be all covered by insurance no problems.

[Mike Clarke]

Hey Liam sorry to hear this.
Glad that you're OK and hope that the wait for the fix isn't too long

I know there's some kind of Kangaroo cull going on in Canberra but I thought you were supposed to use a rifle.

[minigolf]

ButtonIt, yep insurance will cover it. On the one hand my insurer is great because I have maximum no claim bonus for life (ie, my premium should not increase on account of making a claim). But, it may be a struggle for me to chose my repairer. There is only one BMW/MINI recommended repairer in Canberra and they are scheduled to quote on the repairs, fingers crossed they get the gig.

Eddie, yeah cheers for the Roo. His death gets even worse I'm afraid, although in the end the fatal blow was welcome. The impact from me didn't actually kill him, he was flinching a bit as he lay in the middle of the road. A guy driving in the opposite direction stopped to see if I needed a hand. (My car was on the shoulder with hazard lights flashing.) In the time it took this guy to stop, park his car and make his way over to me a few more cars went past in my direction. One or two clipped the roo's tail, but one made what sounded to be like fairly solid impact. I did not see it, just heard it. That car just kept on driving! But, like I said it would have been that hit that put him out of his misery. Poor little bugger, he can't make an insurance claim.

I'm surprised in some way at how relatively minor the damage appears. I was expecting worse. Having said that I'm not looking forward to the repair process, I fear it will take much longer than I would like. But, I'm here and in one piece, thank goodness, had he been a mature roo things may have been very different.

Another point worth noting, the road the accident happened on is pretty much a country road that links north and south Canberra. You go through a bit of cleared farming land that used to be pine plantation before the devastating Canberra bushfires did some unplanned clearing in January 2003. Tonight there was some burning off of the cleared forests taking place about 300m further down the road. I wonder if this fire and smoke had scared the roo into trying to move somewhere safer?

[mini_bm]

Hi Liam,

Sorry to hear about your crash and glad you are OK. Hope you get your car back soon.

Bill.

[n00b]

Hi Liam,

Tough luck but hey, it's only a car afterall and luckily it wasn't a fully grown red 'roo!

To make you feel better, yesterday when I reverse out of the parking I ended up reversing into a 350Z. Nothing happened to the Zed but my rear bar is now somewhat reshaped by the impact. Nissan 1 while Mini, 0. Wasn't even all that fast really....

[swamos]

Sorry to hear this mate, both for your car, and the roo

I was looking forward to seeing your car when we go through Canberra, but I guess that's not likely now

[TRELO]

Sorry to hear this mate . At least your okay , thats the main thing. Cars can be fixed.

Hope it gets on the road soon

[OZChris]

Hi Liam

Sorry to hear about your altercation with Skippy.

At the end of the day, it sounds like you are OK, and Mr Panel Beater will restore LittleBlue to as new.

Chris

[-blacky-]

Just glad to see your ok, thats the main thing.

[minigolf]

Thanks heaps for all the well wishes guys.

swamos: Yeah, not that there's ever a good time to hit a roo, but bad timing for you guys.