Drivers have to be especially careful this time of year as cooler temperatures cause deer to come out of the woods and venture on to streets and roads.
“It left a huge dent in my door, because its antler hit my door, then he swung over on top of my car,” driver Alex Minks said of his accident with a deer. “Then the windshield caved in and came into my car, and he ran off.”
Minks advises drivers to use extreme caution on the road. He said he could not have prepared himself for the accident.
“Like, I’m not thinking, I’m going to get hit by a deer today,” he said. “I’m just driving. Out of nowhere, out of your peripheral vision, you see something coming for you. It’s a deer. You can’t just swerve or risk your life not to hit an animal. So you just have to let it happen.”
Sgt. Ryan Winters of the Oxford Police Department advises drivers to ease up on the accelerator.
“If you are in an area that is known to have deer—which is pretty much every area in Oxford—just slow down,” Winters said. “That is my biggest thing. A lot of people get in a hurry. They are on their phones, you know, texting, talking, whatever, and that distracts you for that split second, and it only takes a second to hit that deer.”
When you see a deer, your natural instinct is to honk, but that may not be in your best interest either.
“You know, we have that saying, “deer in the headlights,” where their eyes are wide open. And they made be wide open, but if you honk at them, they are going to be wide open and running. To me, it scares them, and they may run out in front of your car, and they will cause a lot of damage,” Winters said.
Winters’ best advice: Drive with your bright lights on, and be aware of your surroundings.
Margaret Wood and Jared Cox are journalism majors at Ole Miss.
For questions or comments, email hottytoddynews@gmail.com.
Recent Comments