What Happens When You Hit a Deer on the Garden State Parkway (From Personal Experience)

New Jersey is in the middle of deer rutting season, which means male deer are out in full force. They are very active and more aggressive.

Rutting season is deer mating season, which in New Jersey runs from October through November.

You probably see signs up and down the various highways in New Jersey to serve as a warning because there is usually an increase in deer-related car accidents during this time.

I learned that the hard way last night.

My husband and I were on the parkway late last night, heading home.

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We were switching lanes from left to center after passing a truck in the middle lane.

Just as we entered the middle lane, I came eye to eye with a deer that had darted in the middle of the parkway.

Making eye contact with a deer in the middle of the parkway isn't great...

The deer ran into the front passenger side of my husband's car, bounced off, and hit the back of our car.

Luckily, there weren't cars that were too close by to cause a worse accident and luckily we didn't swerve out of control.

We pulled over to assess the damage.

The front passenger side bumper was pretty much gone, the headlight on that side was busted with the turn signal light bulb missing, the hood looked a little bent, and the passenger side view mirror was MIA.

The tire was scraping against the bumper so we pulled off of the parkway to be in a safer area, we were right near an exit.

A local police officer pulled up behind us to make sure we were alright and to call the State Police.

The officer told us that since it looked like the damage would be over $500 and that the incident occurred on the parkway, the accident had to be reported to the State Police.

We called AAA, which took forever.

Shocker, I know.

Luckily, the State Police officers called a tow truck for us, which of course came quickly.

While it was an exhausting process, we were safe. That's all that mattered.

If the deer was just a foot or so further back on the car, the deer and I may have headbutted. I would prefer never headbutting a deer.

As you drive around the state during rutting, be extra cautious. The troopers informed us we were not the only ones that night who had a run-in with a deer.

Be safe out there.