Dashcam Footage Shows Deputy Hitting Deer at 114 mph

A Minnesota police cruiser damaged after a deputy hit a deer while traveling at 114 mph in response to a call about an armed suspect at a restaurant.(Isanti County Sheriff's Office)

Dashcam video from a Minnesota police cruiser shows a deputy hitting a deer while traveling at 114 mph in response to a call about an armed suspect at a restaurant.

The Isanti County Sheriff’s Department posted the hair-raising footage on its Facebook page to illustrate the danger that animals pose to drivers and to how important it is not to swerve when an animal crosses in front of a vehicle.

“It goes to show how dangerous deer strikes can be, but this also shows how important it is to NOT swerve when an animal strike is going to occur. If the deputy swerved he would have rolled and been injured or worse,” the Facebook post states. “Staying in a straight line kept the injuries to a minimum when the airbags deployed.”

The deer caused the hood of the cruiser to open and completely cover the windshield. The officer slammed on the breaks and did his best to stay in his lane.

The incident happened around 6:30 a.m. as an officer responded to a gun-related incident in the area near 343rd Avenue Northeast and North Main Street, just north of Cambridge, Minn., Isanti County News reported.

The deputy was traveling with his lights and sirens on. The airbag deployed after the impact and the deputy sustained only minor injuries.

“I’ve seen many more severe injuries when someone swerves and ends up going into the ditch and rolling their vehicle,” Isanti County Sheriff Chris Caulk said.

The sheriff mentioned that his department had four cars totaled this year, three of them from deer strikes. One of the cars was totaled responding to a fire, while the other was on the way to a scene of a person fighting with another officer.

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“Just like with anyone, sometimes our deputies do hit deer and it’ll continue to happen,” Caulk said. “We just hope everyone is safe during this deer hunting season.”

The incident the deputy was headed to was at a restaurant where a person was later arrested, but no gun was found, according to the sheriff.

According to a 2011 report from Truman State University, there are an estimated 253,000 animal-related car accidents every year, of which 90 percent involve deer.

What to Do?

According to NYup.com, if you hit a deer, “the repair of damage to a car from a car/deer accident is the responsibility of the vehicle owner and usually covered by automobile insurance.”

Meanwhile, car insurance doesn’t always cover deer-involved crashes.

“To be covered for a run-in with a deer, you need to have comprehensive coverage as part of your car insurance policy. Although the accident with the deer wasn’t your fault, you still have to pay your comprehensive deductible amount. Your mandated state car insurance does not include comprehensive coverage,” according to Carinsurance.com.

And the Insurance Information Institute says the average cost of deer-crash insurance claims about $4,135 in 2015 across the United States.

In New York,  the vehicle owner who hit the deer is allowed to keep the carcass for human consumption or can give it away to a third party.