A woman said she was lucky to be alive after surviving a crash in Wilson County that sent a deer through her car windshield.
Police called it a freak accident, and it was not your typical deer versus car wreck.
The victim was driving along Highway 70 when a deer came out of the brush and officers said the resulting wreck was like nothing they've seen before.
"What totaled the Jeep is where it hit on the roof and this whole windshield on this side was blown out," said Sarah Monson who demonstrated what happened on her new rental car.
Her Jeep was taken to the wrecker yard. "I was in shock. It was like something out of a movie," said Monson. "Blood, shards of glass all through the Jeep."
Monson said police called to the scene told her the deer likely tried to hurdle the vehicle, but came up short. "It was like a missile struck and there was the deer on the floorboard of the jeep in the passenger side," said Monson.
The deer landed right next to her. This was at 1 p.m. in traffic. She struggled just to safely make it to the shoulder, uninjured, but in shock.
"I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I've never seen anything like it," said Monson.
These types of wrecks, where a deer crashes through the windshield, are rare and can be deadly.
Six-years-ago, a similar crash happened to a car traveling on Highway 100 in Nashville. The deer went through the windshield hit a young girl in the backseat and killed her.
In that case, and this one, the drivers were completely caught by surprise. "There was nothing I could have done," said Monson.
The deer died in the seat next to her. "I felt sorry for it too. It was scared," said Monson.
So how can drivers prevent such collisions? There are deer alert devices you can buy for your car, but experts said your best bet is to buckle up, slow down, use high beams when you can at night, and always scan the shoulders of the road.
