GREENSBORO, N.C. — There was a deadly turn of events on Wendover Avenue in Greensboro this Friday. It began with a collision with a deer and ended with a woman, hit and killed. Greensboro Police say she got out of the car to check on the deer and another car hit her. She later died in the hospital.
According to North Carolina's Department of Transportation, North Carolina drivers have seen more than 50 million dollars worth of damage from animal crashes in the past three years, most of those crashes involved deer.
"There's thousands of deer crashes every year," NCDOT State Traffic Engineer, Brian Mayhew said.
More specifically, over the past three years, Guilford County has seen 1,849 crashes, resulting in 118 injuries.
Mayhew said while human fatalities are rare in deer crashes, these crashes can be deadly if you don't react correctly.
"If you do see a deer jump out in front of you, what I tell folks is: steer for the deer," Mayhew said.
Basically, keep driving straight.
"Don't react suddenly and leave your lane. If you run off the road and now you're on the grass shoulder or you're in a ditch, now it can become more serious for you as a driver. We don't want you in the ditch, we don't want you to hit a tree, or we don't want you to go into the other lane and hit another car coming in the other direction," Mayhew said.
He shares some more tips, "Slow down, right. Drive the speed limit or under the speed limit. Be alert. You should never be a distracted driver but clearly you know, having a deer jump out in front of you, you’re gonna need all of your awareness, you’re gonna need all of your focus on that task of driving."
If you do hit a deer, experts say leave the deer alone.
"In most cases the deer is off on the side of the road somewhere or maybe it has even run off to some extent and in that case, it's best to just leave the animal alone at that point," Mayhew said.
If it's blocking the road, you should call police so they can handle it.
Mayhew also mentioned the importance of filing a claim with your insurance if you do hit a deer, he says most insurance companies will want a record of the crash.