Deer damages deputy's car

A Mineral County Sheriff’s Deputy got a big, hairy, antlered surprise when his patrol car struck a deer while driving down Interstate 90 last month.

“It happens, we usually hit a couple deer every year,” said Mineral County Sheriff Hugh Hopwood.

According to Hopwood, Mineral County Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Larson was traveling down I-90 at around mile marker 33 at 10:30 p.m. on June 26 when he struck a deer.

Hopwood said that the push bumpers they place on the front end of their vehicles took the brunt of the blow and is the main reason no one was injured in the accident.

“It kept it from coming up on the hood and coming through the windshield of the car,” Hopwood said.

The bumper pushed the animal around the left side of Larson’s patrol car and off to the side of the road. Hopwood said that without the bumper the deer could have come up into the windshield of the car. He added that a situation like that can be very dangerous if the animal is not killed on impact.

“If it doesn’t kill the deer right away it’s pretty ugly. The deer can be flailing around in the passenger compartment of the car with an officer who’s belted in and he has to get out. It can be pretty dangerous,” Hopwood said.

The deer was not killed immediately, and Hopwood said that Larson had to “put it down” on the side of the interstate.

“We kill a lot of deer down there. We just see a lot of vehicle versus deer accidents,” Hopwood said.

The total damage is around $1,000 according to Hopwood. He said that the accident will be covered through their insurance policy with Montana International Insurance, but he plans to take bids from local companies to see who can fix the vehicle the cheapest.

Hopwood said that there will need to be repairs done to the hood of the car, the left headlight fixture, the left fender, and the left door.

Larson’s car, which had around 90,000 miles on it, was purchased from the Montana State Highway Patrol. Hopwood says he buys all of the department’s vehicles from the Montana State Highway Patrol used for around $3,500 a piece.

Until his car gets fixed, Larson will be riding with other officers during his patrols. Hopwood says he has been doubling up on all his vehicles lately to save money and combat the rising gas prices and the loss of the vehicle will not affect their coverage in Mineral County.

The accident, although a nuisance, is not anything new for the Mineral County Sheriff’s Department. Hopwood said that dodging wildlife on the road is just part of living in Mineral County.

“The problem is that there’s just so much wildlife out there and short of putting a gigantic fence all the way along the interstate there’s really no way to keep them out,” Hopwood said.

He added that early in the morning and early in the evening are particularly dangerous times to be driving because of wildlife. Many deer and other animals are out foraging for food or searching for water at dusk and dawn. Hopwood said that search often brings them across I-90 and into oncoming traffic.

According to Hopwood, dusk and dawn are also dangerous because the driver’s eyes have not yet fully adjusted to the changing light conditions.

“People just have to drive planning for the fact that there may be a deer coming across,” Hopwood said.