My son narrowly escaped a major accident with his life last night after a deer ran in front of his car on a rural road in a 45 mile an hour zone. His first impulse was to avoid the deer, but he lost control of the car and it is just unfathomable seeing the car that he survived. Since this happened, several people have shared this advice with my son and I - "If you can't slow down or stop, or just go around the animal at a safe rate of speed by changing lanes, don't panic - just hit the deer. If you must go toward something, go toward the softest most yeilding target - a deer is far better to hit than a tree or telephone pole." I want to ask if others have better or additional advice for managing hazards on the road and what they think of this advice.

Do you have a question about injuries or the deer or your vehicle?

Sorry Wondergirl - the question posted strangely at first - please see the editted version.

Well it stands to reason that hitting a deer is way better than hitting a phone pole, tree, or another car.

My mom had a similar experience in rural NYState. She ended up hitting the deer (it appeared out of nowhere) which ended up on her hood, but there was little or no damage to the car and the dead deer was claimed by some hungry farmers who liked venison. I agree with the advice you were given -- hit the deer and don't end up in the ditch or against a tree or pole.

A friend of mine lives out in the boonies, and there are a lot of deer where he lives. His neighbors daughter was driving home one night, and like your son, a deer ran in front of her car. They collided.

The accident wouldn't have been fatal, except for one small fact. The deer went through the windshield of the car, and it didn't die. In it's panic to get out of the vehicle, it kicked the daughter to death.

But, that's an isolated incident. I do think that hitting the deer is safer than trying to avoid it, but, it's not a sure thing. Any accident can be fatal, even a minor one, and hitting a deer definitely isn't minor.

I'm glad your son is safe. :)

It's simple physics actually. The path of least resistance theory.

A deer will do serious damage to a car, I had one totaled by a deer many years ago.

But with that said, you stay on the road, just get some front end and/or windshield damage if the deer flys up.

Also often the deer will jump or bolt at the last min and you even miss them.

But you slow down, try to stop, but don't lose control and just hit the deer, it is much better than hitting a ditch, or tree or sign.

A deer weights less, it is movable and will give when you hit.

Thanks for your feedback. My son was afraid of the deer landing inside the car as well - he said it was huge. He also said he didn't even have time to react and maybe that's the best lesson from this - the speed limit was 45 and though he's a teenage boy, he knew this was a notorious speed trap so he drove the limit - I question the limit because several people have died on this stretch of road - hilly, wooded, dark. Had he been a mile further down there were no trees but he would have landed in a major river. I'm questioning the speed limit - maybe 35 would make more sense on this stretch so will suggest it to the community.

And this raises a weird unrelated question - we live in an area with a huge deer population but are in the worst hit portion of the midwest draught. We've noticed that there are fewer deer but the ones we are seeing are just really big this fall. We're wondering if we're imagining this, or if this is a trend in the population?

I tried to research this a bit and the only article I found that would explain possibly large deer in some areas was that the acorn crop was supposed to be plentiful. If you live in a region with a lot of oak trees- maybe? But the effects of the drought on deer would be expected to produce smaller antlers and smaller deer based on what I could find.

One other comment based on my years in highway construction and construction inspection. In the case of interstate highways and many divided highways (not two directional rural roads) there has been a clear roadside area policy in effect for many years. Generally speaking, except where hazards exist near the roadway in which case guard rails or jersey barrier are installed, there should be a 30 foot clear roadside area intended as a recovery area for vehicles which leave the roadway for any reason. These areas are graded with flatter slopes and would always be a safer alternative than hitting a deer. This policy includes the right side of the right shoulder and the left side of the median shoulder in the U.S. Trying to stay on the road is not always the best choice especially on interstate highways.
On rural roads, it is good to develop a habit of noticing areas that would be a good means of escape in emergencies such as someone driving on the wrong side of the yellow lines. I see that in my area almost every time I leave the house. Cellphones, daydreaming, poor eyesight, other distractions? Don't know- but it is frequent.
While I am at it and running my mouth, one of the more frequent accidents I have seen in my career and one I read about even more frequently is vehicles stopping (for any reason) and being struck from the rear by a driver that isn't paying attention, and that happens in cities as well as vehicles stopped in backups on interstates. Leave an escape route in front of your vehicle especially on interstates and take advantage of those clear roadside areas if you have to. These are often trucks and other vehicles traveling at 70 mph striking a stopped vehicle because they don't even know there is a backup. Once the backup has built up for 8 or ten cars (behind you) the danger shifts to the last poor slob in the backup. In the case of road construction, these backups often are so long that the signs intended to warn drivers of construction--don't extend that far.
I'll stop now.

Great road advice - thank you so much. And yes, in our area there are many, many oak trees. We noticed that too - huge deer, small antlers on the males. That's how my son described the one that ran in front of him. He said it was weird that it was so big because from the rack, it didn't seem it could be old enough to be that large.

I noticed this woman had a very interesting concern on a radio talk show about deer xings.
Click the link and give it a listen.


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