Hi Morty..
Sorry about your crash and the deer. Sometimes you have no choice when animals run in front of you.
I have a girlfriend that has run into 2 in the last 2 months. Man what a mess.
I've heard some people tell me, re insurance, and hitting a deer that if they ask you what happened it is better to say that the deer ran straight into you. For some reason the insurance agency doesn't like to hear that you ran into the deer. Depends on the Insurance agency I guess.
$500 bucks out of your Christmas money has gotta hurt too. Take care of that knee and I hope you can get some wheels by Christmas. Can you shop on line and get some free deliveries to your house. It's still hard though when you can't get around, especially when you have kids that need to be carted around to hockey and such. Hope the insurance company pays for a replacement vehicle until you get another one.
sincerely
Special K