MATTHEWS, N.C. — A shocking video that shows a deer hitting a car and flipping violently into the air on a busy road is going viral.
Officers said the video is a good reminder to stay vigilant because deer are more active at this time of year.
The wreck happened along Forest Lawn Drive, where Missie Mansfield and Peter Flur were riding their bicycles with a group of riders.
“We were in pretty tight paceline. It's a small group of us and we were riding,” Mansfield said.
Mansfield led the pack, while Flur was riding with a camera and captured the crash.
“It was a huge buck deer going right in front of me,” Mansfield said. “It hit the car going the opposite way on Forest Lawn and it was hit really hard and it flew up and it fell behind us.”
“It happened all within a second and a half and then, all of a sudden, I see this mass coming up in the air,” Flur said.
“I was very shaken up. We were all shaken up from it,” Mansfield said. “I had tears in my eyes for the deer and then I start replaying it and replaying it and too many what ifs.”
The deer came out of a wooded area that is near several developments.
"As we see more development, as we see more cars on the highway, more people move to the area, it’s just a law of averages. The odds of having a crash with wildlife are higher,” said Sgt. William Laton, of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
Laton said it's common to see more wildlife this time of year.
“We do get a lot of calls, as well as Highway Patrol,” he said. “They investigate a lot of accidents involving wildlife October to December, January.”
Wildlife officials said drivers must stay vigilant and be extra careful in the mornings and evenings when animals are more active.
“It's very sad for the wildlife. It really is,” Mansfield said. “I was shaken up initially because of the deer, and then we started gathering our thoughts and realized what had happened, and then you go home and you really start thinking about it. I could've been killed. Any of us could've lost our lives."
Cox Media Group
