Last week John McCarty, a deputy with the Isanti County Sheriff’s Office in Minnesota,  was speeding down a dark highway to respond to a call about a man with a gun when a deer jumped out in front of his squad car. The entire incident was captured on his dash cam.The Sheriff's Department posted the footage to their Facebook page with a safety reminder. They wrote: “It goes to show how dangerous deer strikes can be, but this also shows how important it is to NOT swerve when an animal strike is going to occur. If the deputy swerved he would have rolled and been injured or worse. Staying in a straight line kept the injuries to a minimum when the air bags deployed.”

Don't swerve! That's good advice. This is the most dangerous time of year for deer collisions. According to this report: From 2013 through 2015, Minnesota state statistics show there were 6,149 reported deer-vehicle crashes statewide. Those crashes resulted in 15 deaths and almost 950 injuries. So far this year, there have been 5 fatalities stemming from vehicle-deer collisions and the overall deer-vehicle crash total includes four collisions with motorcycles.

Read more stats and safety tips here.

 

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