The following personal narrative was the result of a college writing assignment requiring me to write a braided essay. I had never heard of nor read a braided essay, but after a class lecture and some additional research, this is what I came up with: A braided essay takes two or more seemingly unrelated 'threads' and weaves them together into an essay that may potentially end abruptly, leaving the reader to form their own conclusions about the braided threads. I didn't enjoy reading or writing this style of essay, but hey - at least I tried :)
Deer and Bike Crashes
Like a deer in the headlights... we’ve all heard the phrase. But what does it really mean? Where did it originate in the first place?
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Bike accidents... they happen every day. But it always affects someone else, not our loved ones or ourselves. Or does it? It was a Thursday morning, less than a month ago and I was biking home from my piano teacher’s house with my younger sister. It’s only a 5 or so minute bike ride, depending on the lights, but we have to cross one of the worst intersections in Rosemount. Accidents there are common and my family has personally had several near misses at that same location. *****
The phrase ‘like a deer in the headlights’ is usually used to describe someone’s reaction when they are surprised or shocked, or when they are standing in the face of danger. When an individual freezes, their eyes open wide, and their mind goes blank, that’s considered a deer in the headlight response. Ultimately, it’s a feeling of complete helplessness, a loss of control. ***** I hit the stoplight button and turned my brother’s bike that I was borrowing, positioning myself to cross when we got the walking sign. Just as we got the okay to cross, a car pulled up to the stoplight at a high speed. I waited to make sure he was going to stop and when he did, I pulled out. As I pushed off, I looked to my left just in time to see the car roll forward.
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This idiom originated sometime before the 1980’s, but after the invention of modern vehicles with headlights. Drivers noticed that deer wouldn’t necessarily move out of the way of a vehicle coming toward them. Instead, they just froze and stare at the car, as if they are confused or don’t notice the oversized bullet hurtling toward them.
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Drunkenness, distracted drivers running red lights, ignoring stop signs, not stopping at crosswalks, etc... All are a risk to cyclists and can end in an accident. In my case, it was a driver turning right on red as I began to cross the intersection.
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The science behind why a deer will not leap out of the way of an oncoming vehicle in the dark is simply that the rapid switch between dark and light blinds them, sometimes for up to a few minutes. A deer walking around in the dark has pupils dilated to the maximum, in order to bring in as much light as possible. The brightness of a headlight alarms the animal, but it cannot see to know whether it is safe to move because their pupils are trying to adapt. They are helpless. *****
That moment of seeing the car roll forward and knowing that I wasn’t going to be able to get out of the way is when I truly understood the idiom, like a deer in the headlights. In the space of less than two seconds, I saw the car rolling forward, knew I was going to be hit and realized that it was a definite possibility that the driver was going to gun it. It’s a common occurrence at that intersection. I was utterly helpless and couldn’t do anything to control the situation. I was literally the deer in the headlights. The vehicle struck just behind my pedal and I was thrown off into the nearest lane. I do not remember exactly how I landed, as the only two thoughts in my mind were ‘was I seriously just hit by a car’ and ‘I hope the bike isn’t damaged.’ The best I can figure, I landed on my bottom and rolled onto my leather backpack. The only injuries I received was a scratch on my leg where my leg had dragged over the pedal as I was flung off the bike and some bruising from landing. And of course, my entire body ached for a couple days. I liked to joke with my sister, who had seen the whole thing, that I felt like I’d been hit by a car. She’d roll her eyes and comment that she wonders why. *****
When a vehicle hits a deer, the driver may or may not stop, but the majority of the time they choose to stop and contact law enforcement. They may have vehicle damage, injured passengers and a dead or wounded deer nearby.
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When a driver hits a cyclist, they have a legal duty to stop, check on the cyclist, and report the incident. Tragically though, the number of hit and runs is surprisingly high. While the driver of the vehicle didn’t technically hit and run, it was pretty close. He didn’t bother to get out of his vehicle; instead he simply rolled down his window, asked if I was okay and the bike was okay, apologized and claimed he didn’t see me, and left. Didn’t offer to exchange contact information or help me put my bike chain back on the gear – which incidentally would have made it obvious that the bike was actually junked. Instead, he left, leaving me to walk my aching body back home pushing a heavy bike with wheels that didn’t spin properly. *****
After a deer’s been hit, it may simply run off into the woods seemingly unharmed. However there could be negative after-effects that show up late and either kill or debilitate the deer. There are also cases where the deer simply returns to normal life, unaffected and one car-hit wiser. When I was younger, I used to wonder if deer have a way to communicate that something happened to them, to other deer. If a deer gets hit by a car and survives, do they tell their fellow deer about it? Warn them to stay away from roads? Remind each other cars are dangerous? *****
I immediately returned to daily life, admittedly one car-hit wiser, walking into my North Central theater literature class an hour later. As my shaking hands showed though, I was still slightly in shock and it apparently showed more than I thought. My professor greeted me with his usual “how ya doin, Jaela?” When I didn’t immediately give my typical, cheery, “pretty well, how ‘bout you?” he noticed and commented on it, asking what was going on. I shared what had happened and he was shocked that I was sitting in his classroom so soon after. For me though, it only made sense. I wasn’t in a hospital injured, so why should I miss class and lose credit? Instead, the clock kept ticking and life went on as usual.
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