Swerving To Avoid A Deer, Driver Causes A Bigger Crash

Just don’t swerve.

One of the worst things you can do when an animal suddenly jumps in front of your car is swerve. That’s exactly what a driver in Sioux City, Iowa did when a deer appeared in his lane. The problem was he swerved into 13 other cars, which thankfully weren’t occupied at the time.

Learn why you shouldn’t tailgate here.

The guy is lucky because plenty of drivers have swerved into oncoming traffic, off a sheer cliff, or into other horrendous/fatal situations all because an animal appeared in their lane. Local station KTIV says instead this driver plowed into a row of vehicles for sale at a dealership.

Since this situation went down at 10:45 pm nobody was looking to buy a car and so nobody was hurt, including the driver. That’s fortunate, because there are a lot of vehicles which would absolutely crumble in the middle of hitting 13 other cars. If you look at the photo from KTIV, the damage on some of them looks severe.

We’re guessing management at Tri-State Auto Sales isn’t too happy with the situation. Insurance should cover most of the damage, but this isn’t great for business. And all this was caused by a deer.

Actually, this was really caused by a driver who doesn’t realize the best course of action is to either brake or accelerate when a deer or other animal jumps into their path. If you have the room and conditions are right, braking is obviously optimal since it would avoid a collision completely. Accelerating can help the animal glance off your vehicle, although there is a level of risk with that strategy. And you usually only have a split second to react.

The kneejerk reaction so many drivers have to yank on the steering wheel is the most dangerous choice to make. Yet people will argue it isn’t. And that’s why accidents like this will continue to happen.

Image via KITV