Semi-truck driver keeps calm as deer smashes through windshield on I-5
Jun 9, 2014, 12:51 PM | Updated: 5:53 pm
The Washington State Patrol says a semi-truck driver managed to escape injury when a deer came smashing through his windshield and into his lap Monday morning near Tacoma. (WSP/Trooper Guy Gill)
(WSP/Trooper Guy Gill)
A semi-truck driver is being credited for keeping his calm after a deer smashed through the windshield and into his lap as he drove on I-5 near Tacoma Monday morning.
The trucker was heading northbound near the Bridgeport exit when he saw a small deer come bounding across all of the southbound lanes, leap across the center divider, and directly into the front of the big rig.
“The deer was flung broadside right through the windshield and into the driver’s steering column and lap,” says Washington State Patrol trooper Guy Gill.
The driver managed to keep his calm and pull the truck over to the side of the road without incident.
“He did an amazing job. Our hats go off to him for having the wherewithal to just remain calm,” Gill says. “We always tell people not to swerve when they see an animal. This could have been so much worse if he’d reacted differently.”
The driver was treated at the scene for minor cuts and abrasions. He refused to go to the hospital and insisted on resuming his run as soon as possible, Gill says.
The deer died at the scene.
