Franksbuck2

THE LONGEST RIDE part II

As I was looking over the carnage of fur and meat that splattered on the crinkled front
quarter panel of the car, Kris’s brother Jim pulled up behind us in his F150 with his
hazard lights blaring. I felt a little safer now, having a couple tons of pickup truck 40
feet behind us. I took him to the front of the car to show off my Lincoln’s new look. “So
you got yourself a deer, Frankie!”, he said as he came walking up. We stood and shook
our heads in disbelief. It hadn't even been a half hour since we were all celebrating by
sitting and eating pizza at Ceasar-land for his daughters 6th birthday party. It is
staggering how quickly things like this can happen, I kept thinking this, as we looked
over the wreckage. Jim and I got back into the Lincoln with Kris, just then, we saw a
flatbed tow truck with amber flashers strobe lights pull up in front of us.

The driver hopped out, I think his name was Scott, but he looked more like a Skippy to
me than anything else. Thinner built, scruffy on the cheeks with round glasses and
Carhart coveralls. “Where’s the other vehicle, did they already pick it up?” This was
Skippy’s first words. He too, was in disbelief that a deer could have caused so much
damage. “Did you see which way she went?” Skippy asked curiously. We determined
that by the shape of the hood the deer would have probably been deflected upward and
over the 3 lanes of Eastbound traffic into the tree line at the side of the road. So I
grabbed my Mag-Light flashlight and handed it to Jim and our new found friend Skippy
snatched his cordless Q-Beam out of the tow truck and we waited for all 3 lanes of
traffic to clear.

We caught a brake and we ran across the freeway, we must have looked like 3 little
kids at a schoolyard recess. When we stepped to the other side we spread out leaving
about 15 to 20 feet between, us and walked the shoulder of the road towards
Fowlerville. Skippy took the tree line down by the ditch & fence, and Jim and I stayed
up top closer to the road. It was easy to find the point of impact because as we walked
closer and approached it, remnants of the Lincoln danced and glistened in the road. I
walked with Jim kicking at the dense weeds that were about hip high occasionally
bending down to pick up a large piece of the LS. We walked about ½ mile that night and
although we never found the deer, I did recover the Lincoln’s hood ornament and
several other large plastic pieces of the front end. The hood ornament was scuffed and
had a tuff of fur sticking out of a crack in the chrome, it was a sad sight. “OK, Now”,
We all crossed the road again and walked back to the flashing amber strobes and
blinking hazards. It was inconceivable that something as soft as a deer could have
survived such a horrible impact.

The towtruck driver explained that he could not touch the car until the police showed up
so we got back in our respective vehicles and we would wait…and wait…. and wait…
and wait some more. We would wait more than two and a half hours for the state police
to show up. We took this time to empty the contents of the car, of every personal item
we could find, and we stuffed it all in the backseat of Jim’s truck. We were all
convinced that this particular LS had seen it’s final driving days, so nothing was spared
or left in the vehicle. Once the Lincoln was emptied, we bid her farewell and all climbed
into the front seat of the F150.

We saw a state police pull up heading west bound. He pulled over onto the westbound
median shoulder, slowed and lit us up with his spot light for a few seconds and crossed
the median to pull up behind us. He hit the giant red beacon atop the blue state police
car and I could see him grab across the dashboard for his hat. He smiled big as he
stepped out and walked up to us. I remember thinking holly smokes, it’s Chris Rock.
He was a short lively little black guy who was about my age who said,” Awe man, who
racked up that nice shiny Lincoln, it’s a damn shame”. We were all taken back by the
comment and began to laugh. He looked over the damage for a second and summoned
me to the squad car for a statement and some info.

He had a white female partner who seems just as fun and jovial. I seen her as a Gilda
Radner type and she was asking most of the questions. I told them the specifics, which
lane we were in, how fast we were going, and pointed where I thought we might have had
impacted. I told them that this was my first official time in the back of the squad car and
Officer Chris Rock said, “Well, to get the full effect, I’d have to put the cuffs on you”.
We all laughed and they told me about some drunk they had just arrested. They had
just come from a couple incidents where people who had been drinking had gotten out of
hand. They had been having what they called a “busy night” and the Chris Rock officer
dropped a couple “f”-bombs describing the incidents of the crazy night. It was nice to
laugh and joke around with these two as it took my mind off of what had just happened.
No sooner was I out of their squad car, and Officer Chris Rock and his partner Gilda
Radner were speeding off to another call. Probably at a different bar fight full of more
drunks I'd thought.

By the time I had finished up with police, the LS had been loaded on to the flat bed tow
truck and Skippy had me sign a release paper before he was off. Jim, Kris and I
headed back to Fowlerville where her Dad was waiting up with the keys to their
minivan. It was a quiet ride home in the Winstar and I stayed in the center lane with the
cruise set at 65mph all the way home. Kris and I sat wordless, just staring out the
Windstar's windshield. How many times had I gone up north and speeded passed deer
on the side of the roads, I'd thought to myself. It’s funny how things usually happen
when you least expect them.

That Sunday night we finally got home at about 11:45. It had taken us almost 4 hours to
go 70 miles and our lives had been changed that night. I called my boss at work and
told him that I was involved in an accident and needed a personal day to shore some
things up.

The next day Kris and I drove back to Fowlerville to take the Winstar back. I followed
her in my F150 and as we traveled back home around mile marker 133, I slowed down
and caught a glimpse of a deer in the median. It was daylight and about noon, so it was
much easier to see the deer now. I stopped the truck and jumped out to find a seven
point buck that laid at the spot of last night’s impact. Jim, Skippy and I had been
looking for the deer on the wrong side of the road. The folded hood on the car had
pushed the deer back into the same direction that it had come from. The median. We
called Kris’s Dad and he helped me secure the deer to back of the truck.

I didn’t plan on doing any deer hunting this year due to my work schedule, but it looks
like I end up with a buck this year after all. My first buck for that matter. As for the
Silver Lincoln LS - It would take over six weeks, $11,000 and the complete front end
clip off another smashed up Lincoln LS to complete the repairs. I am just thankful
nobody was injured in the accident (except the Deer) and I hope that everybody can
take with them at least this one piece of advice from our accident. -You can’t put a
price on safety, so purchase every safety option on your vehicle that
you can afford, because you’ll never know when you’re about to get
your longest ride home.

Pictures

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See Pictures of Frank's 1st
Buck and the Lincoln LS-
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The End