Deer’s Leap Into Side Of Car Shakes Teen Impact Shatters Rolled-Up Window - And It’s Not First Deer To Hit Her Car

Deer seem to have a fatal attraction to Natalie Oswald’s car.

The 16-year-old Hayden girl has only been driving for a year, and already two deer have run into her four-door Buick.

Yes, they ran into her - she didn’t run into them.

The most recent incident happened Monday, leaving the teen shaken, cut and covered with deer hair. The deer died, as did the animal in the first incident.

“It looked like it tried to jump through the window,” a still-amazed Oswald said Tuesday. “I didn’t even see it coming.”

Oswald was on her way home from high school at about 3:45 p.m. Monday. She was heading east on Lancaster Road near Strahorn Road.

“I was just driving along and it just jumped right into my driver’s side window,” Oswald said.

The deer bounded from a nearby subdivision, shattered the rolled-up window and showered Oswald with fine shards of glass. Sunglasses prevented the glass from flying into her eyes.

“I just pulled my car over on the side of the road,” Oswald said. “I was just so scared. When I looked back there were two guys dragging it off the road.”

Oswald was taken to the hospital in an ambulance where the glass was cleaned off her. She suffered a few small cuts to her face.

Monday’s incident was eerily familiar to Oswald.

Last spring, also while on her way home from school, a deer ran into her car on the same road and within a mile of Monday’s incident.

The impact crushed the passenger door behind Oswald.

“I never had a chance to swerve or anything,” said Oswald. She would like to become a wildlife biologist and says she loves animals. “It’s so heartbreaking to have that happen.”

Kootenai County sheriff’s deputies filed a report on Monday’s incident, but say Oswald did nothing wrong.

Oswald and her family have tried to explain the accidents.

“We were thinking it was the color of the car but my mom used to drive the car and a deer never hit her,” Oswald said.

Others have said that dogs in the area often chase deer.

Oswald is now taking a different route to and from school.

“I’m a little bit scared to drive,” she admitted. “It’s just really, really weird.”

, DataTimes