Deer Crashes Through Bus Windshield, Goes On With Its Day

A school bus driver in Powhatan County, Virginia got a surprise visitor Thursday morning when a deer casually crashed right through the windshield of the bus and into a child riding in the front seat only to be let out by the driver so Bambi could go about its business in the free world.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports the bus driver missed hitting one deer only to blast the other one. “The bus hit it and it rolled up the hood of the bus and through the windshield. The deer jumped up at about the time the bus hit it,” a school transportation official told the newspaper.

Now for the fine print: The deer wasn't turned into steaks and jerky. It survived and ran across a field, according to school officials. Sure, they could be lying so the animal rights people don't start calling for the district to close its busing division. Watch the video. The deer gets off in an orderly manner, which tells me it most likely didn't learn its lesson and will be totaling a Kia Soul at some point this weekend.

As for the driver, he smartly isn't talking or revealing his name. Can you imagine the PETA wackos who would be attacking him for how he treated that deer. They'd probably protest at the bus barn and cause all sorts of havoc.

Now for the data. Let's go back to 2019, the last full year when people were out driving around, going to grandma's house before grandmas started being killed off by COVID. 2019 crash data from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles shows that there were 6,523 incidents involving deer and vehicles, including 3,477 during mating season. Those collision numbers were up 11% over 2018, and injuries from deer accidents were up 16% from 2018.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports there are around one million car accidents involving deer each year and 200 lives lost from those incidents. It all adds up to around $1 billion in damages.