Last night my sister-in-law hit a moose. She was driving about 100 km/hr on the 16, a large east-west freeway.
Luckily, no person was severely injured. She suffered some minor cuts on her hand. The passengers of another car, which hit the moose's corpse and rolled, weren't so lucky: the driver had a minor concussion, one of the passengers broke a leg.
Moose-vehicle collisions (MVC's) can be quite serious. They're popularly perceived as very dangerous; even as likely to cause multiple fatalities. The argument for this is that a moose is basically a 450 kg mass up on stilts. Most of the mass of your car is down below the moose's body. When a car meets a moose, the theory goes, the moose flies through the passenger compartment, above the heavy frame and engine.
It appears that this popular belief is an exaggeration. Statistics from Newfoundland show that injury only occurs in 18% of MVC's; serious injury in only 1.8%. So this was a highly unusual accident by these stats: serious injuries were sustained by the passengers in the second car, which was totaled.
My sister-in-law's car was basically fine. Sure, the windshields were smashed and there was a dent in the side. Apparently the bumper was torn up some. But the frame seemed fine, and the car was certainly drivable. This is all the more surprising considering that the likely main point of impact was the left front roof support post. The car is a Volvo, so it's tempting to put this down to Volvo's safety mania.
I think a different reason is operating here.
The Swedish national car manufacturer only sells moose-proof vehicles.
The conference we were helping with for work is finally over, so we have been enjoying our free time today. The cats need it, too. They're so annoyed that we've been away that even Oscar, usually a paragon of responsible bathroom behavior, has started pissing in the closet. Bad Oscar!
So today is a rebuilding day. I am sitting on the couch, drinking my own coffee (not hotel coffee), and keeping Dizzy company.