Don't get hit by a turkey doing 70mph!

[Whitewolf]

I bought a brand new Grabber Blue RTR in early April. It had been sitting in the garage, waiting for the rain to stop. Took it out for it's first drive....heading back home minding my own business a 30lb tom turkey decided to run in front of me and try to take flight. He was only about 3ft away when this happened. He took out part of the nose, dented hood in two places, took out windshield, and messed up the roof.
The thing that surprised me was the windshield. It shattered into a fine dust with pieces of tiny glass. We were covered from head to toe. My husband got hit in the head from the rearview mirror that let go and the overhead console. The only part that helped was the RTR banner on the windshield. Here are some pics. Hard to see the damage as it rained the next day. The last pic was from earlier that day after detailing it.

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[Alan Applegate]

Oops! I've heard about ducks, geese, and even a few antlered animals colliding with a vehicle, but a turkey?

 

[RJW]

That is crazy.

 

[steveo1960]

Ouch! We have turkeys out where I live, as well as deer, don't ask. I can attest to the rear view mirror being attached with spit and superglue. I was adjusting mine and ended up holding it in my hand and it was the mount that ripped off from the glass taking parts of the windshield with it. Replaced windshield. Glad you are alright!!

 

[Neggytive]

I handled a similar claim, paid to take the interior out and super clean it, plus remove the dash to get every glass shard out of the defroster and other duct work

The Insurance co gave me a ration of sh*t about it but after I explained their liability if a sliver of glass got blown into someone;s eye they relented and approves the claim

 

[smurfslayer]

JAYZUS!

I've seen worse but ... a Turkey!?
I was riding a motorcycle on rt. 9 in WV, snaking through a town in a series of curves when a deer lept from up high, right into a minivan's windshield ~30mph. It was a God awful mess of blood everywhere.

I'm glad y'all are ok.

Lastly, hopefully this will lighten the mood a bit:

 

[RDH43]

Wow...Glad you are all ok but dang that's a lot of damage from a bird...

Not for nothing a former coworker hit a deer at 70 in a then new sn95 Mustang and it had to have a front clip including both fendors/hood windshield and all the other components ruined......It was in repair for several months...but turned out very good...The deer was vaporized though...


Good luck with your repairs...

 

[Whitewolf]

The insurance company tried to tell me I was at fault, but after telling them a thing or two, they decided to be a not at fault accident. Like I told the Turkey "Hey I'll be coming through mile marker 124 at 5pm....jump out in front of me at that time".
They re-introduced turkeys here in Maine a while back and now they are everywhere.....Had to go down I95 again last weekend and there were a ton of dead ones and few fresh splats on the road from them......

 

[MustangNoob]

At least did you take the turkey ?

 

[BuckeyeBOSS]

That sucks man, gorgeous car.

 

[Nolasalt]

Fowl on the play...unnecessary roughness!

 

[D/\rK•650]

Im sorry that happened. All the best getting it back to new.

 

[Snakebyte]

The insurance company tried to tell me I was at fault, but after telling them a thing or two, they decided to be a not at fault accident. Like I told the Turkey "Hey I'll be coming through mile marker 124 at 5pm....jump out in front of me at that time".
They re-introduced turkeys here in Maine a while back and now they are everywhere.....Had to go down I95 again last weekend and there were a ton of dead ones and few fresh splats on the road from them......

You may want to check again on coverage. Many states would handle an animal encounter as a comprehensive claim. But maybe in your state that only applies to four footed animals. Regardless, having a Comp claim instead of a NAF may be better for your insurance future in Maine.

 

[Wiley Marmot]

HO LEE ****! Glad you folks weren't hurt any worse than you were! Best wishes on getting the Mustang sorted and back to like new!

Had a steroid abusing Guinea Hen run out in front of me decades ago as I was on my way into work doing 65ish. Damn thing exploded like a feathered gut bag and coated my car with goo! No damage though. Whew!

2 close calls with turkeys on my FAV back road; trying to take off as you describe. I was on my ZX14 sport bike! Not sure how much they cleared my helmet by; as I was too busy ducking my head and screaming in terror to notice!!

 

[Alex381]

Ouch! We have turkeys out where I live, as well as deer, don't ask. I can attest to the rear view mirror being attached with spit and superglue. I was adjusting mine and ended up holding it in my hand and it was the mount that ripped off from the glass taking parts of the windshield with it. Replaced windshield. Glad you are alright!!

If you pulled out A whole chunk of glass with the mirror then it was definitely already damaged. Probably a rock chip around the mirror on the exterior of the windshield. I’ve heard of the mount not being adhered properly but never just ripping out a chunk of tempered glass.

Definitely a prime opp to talk about how you just don’t know your own strength.

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