It's deer season right now across much of the United States, and pheromone-crazed bucks are starting to filter through the landscape as the rut approaches. Even if you're not a hunter, it's likely you'll notice an extra few trampling through your yard, or locking antlers....or sometimes, jumping directly in front of your car after materializing from the roadside brush less than a second before.
A man named Adam Nichol uploaded a video to YouTube this week that perfectly illustrates that danger. He writes on reddit that he was driving his Header Orange 2014 Dodge Charger R/T (equipped with the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8) with his dash cam rolling on Monday morning in a rural area, when the eight-point buck ran out in front of his car. You can see in the video that the deer comes out of nowhere, leaping out of a ditch obscured by tall grass and ending up directly in the Charger's path in less than a second. It's a scary reminder of how quickly things can go down.
Somehow, despite both airbags deploying, the windshield smashing, and the hood crumpling up like a potato chip bag, Nichol managed to maintain control and come to a safe stop. It's likely the Charger is totaled, though, but Nichol responded to another comment on Reddit saying he's got his eye on an identical replacement at a local dealership should his insurance opt to take his car off the road.
So until the hunters do their work—and the deer stop going wild—keep an eye on the roadside when you're driving this fall.