This weekend, two riders where injured when they hit a deer in West Union Township. The motorcycle was headed east on Todd County Road 2 when the collision took place. Each was taken to the St Cloud Hospital.
The Minnesota Department of Traffic Safety’s "Crash Facts 2007" indicated that there were 3,144 vehicle-deer accidents reported last year with 336 injuries and six fatalities.
The Duluth News Tribune recently published some helpful suggestions:
Rule 1: Treat every deer as if it’s going to cross in front of you. If you assume a deer feeding on the shoulder is going to hold its position until you have gone by, you’re just an accident waiting to happen.
Rule 2: Drive according to the conditions. If the night is foggy, rainy, or slippery, you might not be able to prevent a collision, but you can minimize the damage if you’re driving slowly enough. Don’t just speed along and hope nothing gets in your way.
Rule 3: Keep your eyes on the road at all times. You may only have a second or two to react to a deer crossing the highway. If you’re not an attentive driver, you can get hurt.
While there is no liability claim for the driver of the car, passengers may still have a claim for liability depending on the facts of the collision. It is important that these case be investigated early by an Attorney who does this type of work. Hopefully, both of these people will heal up quickly.
A founding partner with Bradshaw & Bryant, Mike Bryant has always fought to find justice for his clients—knowing that legal troubles, both personal injury and criminal, can be devastating for a family. Voted a Top 40 Personal Injury "Super Lawyer" multiple years, Mr. Bryant has also been voted one of the Top 100 Minnesota "Super Lawyers" four times.
2 Comments
Daniel 8791
I once hit a deer with my car north of Stillwater while driving in about 4-5 inches of freshly unplowed snow. I learned a lot from that accident and always take into account those three great tips listed above, hopefully more people out there do that as well and we can prevent some vehicle-animal collisions. There is a readily googleable video of a deer jumping over a motorcycle that shows just how frightening and dangerous it can be with a deer vs. vehicle encounter. Hopefully these two Minnesota riders make a speedy and successful recovery from their accident.
Mike Bryant
Very good story, thanks for taking the time to read and comment.
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