Accident Caused by Deer
by Ron
(Minnesota)
My wife hit this deer. It was at the cloverleaf intersection of I-694 and MN-36 just about dusk. She was driving our Saturn SL1 westbound to get to work. Although the whole area is thick with deer, this well lit and very busy intersection was not really the place one would expect to see a deer.
My wife never really saw it as it bounced on the front hood of the car, up the windshield, and into the air. The driver of the car behind saw the whole thing, the deer running out onto the road, the deer airborne, and then scampering off into the median.
This driver stopped and inquired about my wife's condition, which was fine. He then relayed that the deer had flown higher than he knew a deer could fly. He said it was up in the air at least a dozen feet.
The car still ran. My wife was a bit too wound up from the incident to work that night, so she came home.
Damages included a front light, the front hood, and a slow to occur radiator leak, which required the radiator to be replaced. The airbag did not go off, nor did the windshield crack, although there was fur all over the place.
