Drivers unharmed after deer flies through SUV

Seth Campbell will never look at roadkill the same way again.

Campbell was westbound on Montana Highway 82 during the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday, Sept. 21. He had just reached the west side of the S-curve on the Somers cut-across, and he could see the headlights of a vehicle approaching from the opposite direction.

Just as Campbell was about to pass the oncoming car, the unthinkable happened.

“Between the glare from the headlights and it being dark outside, I didn’t even see the deer’s head until it was in my windshield,” Campbell said.

Campbell’s Honda Civic slammed into the animal at 65 miles per hour, launching it forward and, as he would later find out, into the front windshield of the vehicle in the other lane.

With glass and debris in his eyes and mouth, Campbell pulled over and got out of his car. The driver of a car that had been traveling behind Campbell stopped and called 911.

Through the darkness, Campbell could barely make out the form of the other vehicle that had been hit. It was stopped about 200 yards down the road.

“I didn’t walk down there at first since it was dark,” Campbell said. “After the authorities arrived and it got light outside, I walked down there, and I almost couldn’t believe what I saw.”

The scene was gruesome. After being thrown in the air by Campbell’s vehicle, the deer had smashed through the front windshield of a Dodge Durango on the passenger side, flown through the length of the vehicle and exited through the back window.

“The deer basically blew up inside of the car,” Campbell said. “It was all over him (the driver) and all over the car.”

According to Jim White, who was behind the wheel of the Durango, the incident happened so quickly that neither he nor Campbell had time to react.

“It just happened so darn fast,” White said. “I didn’t have any time to react. I saw his (Campbell’s) headlight pop, and my world just exploded.”

Amazingly, White sustained only minor injuries in the collision. Neither driver was transported to the hospital.

“It (the deer) missed him by about a foot,” Campbell said. “We were both lucky. I was just so thankful. It was a miracle that no one was injured.”

Campbell knows the accident could have been much worse.

“If I would have veered left at all, we would have had a head-on collision at 65 miles per hour,” he said.

No citations were issued in connection with the accident, but Campbell was left with about $6,000 worth of damage to his vehicle. White’s vehicle was totaled.

“It was an example of truly being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” White said of the accident.

Although there wasn’t much Campbell could have done to avoid hitting the deer that morning, he walked away a less hasty, more cautious driver.

“I learned to just not be in such a hurry,” Campbell said. “With the amount of deer traffic on the road, you should give yourself an extra 15 minutes so you’re not going so fast. Give yourself a chance to be able to react, because I didn’t even get a chance to tap the breaks.”

Both drivers said they have been wary of driving in the dark since last week’s accident.

“I’m a little shell-shocked,” White said. “I still flinch when I see another car at night.”