24. Hitting Deer & Animal Crossings.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that there are more than 1.5 million car crashes in the United States that involve deer or large animals. From October through December (Deer Season), there are more deer-caused car accidents than any other time of year. Therefore, you should be very careful when driving near deer or animal crossing signs.

From the middle of fall until the beginning of winter, you must be on the look-out for deer on the roadways. Be especially cautious from dusk until dawn, the time wild animals are most likely to venture out in the roadways. Also, animals tend not travel alone. So if you see one, it would be wise to be on the lookout for others.

7 Tips to Avoid a Car Accident

If you should ever find yourself in the unenviable position of staring down a deer in the headlights:

1. Try to avoid hitting the animal. While this is obvious, you should know that while hitting the animal could kill it, you are also in danger. Your car could be severely damaged, but people have also died in car accidents with animals.

2. Turn off your head lights. Once the lights go off, there is a chance that you can snap the animal out of its “deer in the headlights” trance. If it hears your car coming before impact, it may find it safer to run away.

3. Try not to hit straight-on. If you can hit an animal at an angle, there is a greater chance that it will spin away from the path of your car after impact. Antlers are very sharp and could impale you.

4. Slow down as much as you possibly can as you approach it. This will give the animal an extra moment to hopefully leave the road and lessen the resulting car accident.

5. Remain in the same lane. This is how people get into car accidents with other cars. You must be careful not to make a bad situation worse.

6. Speed up at the last possible moment. While this seemingly conflicts with the above tip (to slow down), speeding up at the last moment will help an imminent impact. By braking, the car’s inertia pushes the front bumper of your car downward, making it likely that the deer will roll over the car and put your life in extreme danger. By speeding up at the last moment, your car’s front end will pull up and reduce the chances of the animal flipping over the top of the car.

7. Never touch an animal after the accident. A frightened or wounded animal can be extremely dangerous. You should contact police if the animal is dead or unable to move from the roadway.

Call Us Now to Maximize Your Auto Accident Settlement

The only thing you can do is make sure that you are paying attention to the road and scanning your eyes back and forth. If you maintain a safe speed, you will increase your chances of avoiding a car accident with a deer. Sometimes, though there is absolutely nothing that you can do to avoid it.

Millions of people get into car accidents with deer and other large animals each year. If that happens to you, call 1-800-655-6585 now for a FREE consultation with an experienced auto accident attorney in San Diego. You may also click here to submit your case for a FREE online review.

We consider several key factors in these animal crossing auto accidents. First we determine how well lit the street was, then we employ a car accident reconstructionist to determine what exactly happened. For instance, did the deer quickly jump in front of a moving car or was it there for a short period of time before being struck? Our attorneys are very thorough.

Since 1992, our San Diego law firm has been dedicated to auto accident claims, and we look forward to providing good advice to help you make smart decisions about your case.

Most Recent Blog Post

[caption id="attachment_21715" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Photo Credit: The San Diego Union Tribune"][/caption] Last week, we reported on a car accident in San Diego that resulted out of alleged teen street racing. In new developments, the 18-year-old driver charged with the death of the two teenagers involved in the street racing has pleaded not guilty to vehicular manslaughter among four other charges according to reports at the San Diego Union Tribune. The news follows the earlier arrest of another 16-year-old driver that was taken into custody on similar charges. Just shortly after his arraignment, Michael Johnson, the 18-year-old driver of a Volvo S40, said, according to his attorney, that he is not the responsible party in the tragic San Diego accident fatalities that occurred April 4. Accident reports indicate that Johnson was returning from a spring break beach party in La Jolla when he was allegedly involved in a street racing contest with another teen driver – the unidentified 16-year-old driver of a Volkswagen Passat whose name has not been released since he is a minor. According to Deputy District Attorney Kristen Spieler, the two vehicles were zigzagging across lanes at speeds reaching up to a staggering 100 m.p.h. The 16-year-old driver in the Passat lost control over the vehicle, causing the car to flip over several times across multiple lanes of the road. Two passengers, Anthony Foreman, 18, and Jayli Campbell, 16, were thrown from the Passat and died at the scene of the accident. Two passengers survived the crash. Charlotte McQuillen, survived the accident although she suffered serious injury as a result of the collision including reports that say the teen will have to recover from traumatic brain injury. Anthoney Taylor, 16, also survived the crash although his injuries are unclear at this time. Johnson did not flee the scene of the accident according to police reports and cooperated with authorities once officers assessed the scene of the collision. The teen has no prior criminal record, although authorities say his vehicle was found containing a small amount of marijuana. Johnson is being charged with intoxicated driving, although his lawyer says there were no field sobriety tests to confirm the teen’s alleged intoxication. Teen driving: reminders for concerned parents Last week, we blogged on actions parents can take to prevent teen car accidents. Tips include:

Sign a parent-teen contract. Download your free contract now.
Enforcing the rules. Every teen driver needs to know that rules are there for a purpose, and when they are broken, consequences will follow.
Have a DUI backup plan. As most parents can attest, there are many instances when teen drivers run into problems that supersede their know-how and maturity. Drinking is one of those problems. In cases of emergency, your teen should have an open-door policy where they feel safe to call you when they need help – such in the case of drunk driving or driving while intoxicated.

About the Law Offices of Michael Pines, APC The Law Offices of Michael Pines, APC are specialists in car accident injury. Every personal injury attorney in our San Diego office works hard to seek maximum recovery for every injured client. Your case is handled without any out-of-pocket costs, so do not hesitate to speak to a San Diego personal injury lawyer today for a free legal evaluation. Call us at 1-800-655-6585.