Jim's story
We went to Albuquerque (4 hour drive) to have upgrades put on our yellow 2008 Smart Passion. We took the "scenic route" through the mountains to go home. We'd just slowed down to 55 mph when a 4-point buck appeared in front of us. There was nothing we could do but hit it straight on. Jim didn't even have time to hit the brakes. It flew over the car and we slowed to a stop. No air bags, no injuries, no seat belt bruising....nothing!
It took the state police 45 minutes to get there. The local Sheriff beat him by about one minute when a Capitanian phoned him. We didn't know at the time that we were just a mile out of Capitan. Jim found some electrical tape in his emergency kit and tried to tape the lights back on, but we needed more. So we limped into the Capitan 7-11 / Shell Station. The Sheriff have obviously been regaling his buddies with our tale and decided to help out. Together, everyone duct taped, electrical taped the front end back together.
Capitan is a really friendly little village and everyone was concerned about us driving home (another 2 hours) in the dark. Apparently the elk were busy crossing the highway to get to the river and we could have had real problems. One of the guys offered to put us up in one of his cabins. The next day we drove home with no problems. You know what? I truly think God had more than a little bit to do with our well being. I think He likes Smart Cars too!
Jim and Sandy Schuetz
P.S. Jim drove the car back to Albuquerque two weeks later and I followed. Speed limit on the Interstate 40 is 75 mph....and that's how fast he drove. Hopefully we'll take it home by the 17th of April. Thanks for asking us to share our story.