Confronting The Deer In The Headlights

One day last month our firm received three separate, unrelated subrogation claim files involving serious personal injury, property damage, and a death resulting from tractor-trailers whose drivers had lost control after serving to avoid colliding with a deer on the highway.

In two of the losses, the 18-wheelers overturned and were shortly thereafter struck by other vehicles, resulting in further injuries and damages.

The deer that started it all are still presumably alive, although uninsured. A passenger in one of the vehicles which struck the truck is dead.

Loss-of-control crashes resulting from deer in the roadway have become commonplace. The National Highway Safety Administration (NHSA) recently conducted a study that analyzed the ever-increasing danger of deer-related vehicle accidents.

Such accidents have consistently risen over the years due to increasing deer populations and rising speed limits.