What to Know
- The freak accident unfolded Wednesday morning in Clifton, when the deer leapt from the Route 3 overpass and struck a car driving south on Route 21.
- The doe did not survive. Somewhat miraculously, the driver only suffered minor injuries after he lost control and crashed
- The state's Department of Environmental Protection said drivers could be at an increased risk for crashes involving deer in autumn, as most occur in the fall during mating season for the mammals
A busted up windshield, a couple of crashed cars and a visibly shaken driver were the result of a deer that somehow jumped from an overpass and plunged through the windshield of a car on a New Jersey highway below.
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The freak accident unfolded Wednesday morning in Clifton, when the deer leapt from the Route 3 overpass and struck a car driving south on Route 21. Jasper Cordero was driving when the car in front of him stopped suddenly following a collision, sparking a mystery about what went wrong.
"Our vehicles stop. I'm facing him, the driver, and he’s looking out the window. And all I see is this green stuff all over his body. I thought it was a Starbucks matcha tea or something and he spilled on himself. But that’s not the case - and I also noticed some blood," said Cordero. "I wasn’t hurt, I was able to get out of my car. He was traumatic — not sure what had happened. He kept saying he thinks he hit something, he wasn’t sure."
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That's when Cordero and another person who had stopped went into the driver's car to pull him out.
"But we didn’t see still, other than a big hole in the window, we couldn’t see what had triggered this," he told NBC New York in an exclusive interview.
It would be another several minutes before it was discovered what caused the crash, and it was enough to leave everyone rattled in disbelief.
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"We started helping him wipe off, call the police. And when we backed my vehicle away and actually finally opened the door, a full-on deer was sitting underneath his steering wheel shaft," Cordero said.
The photos from the scene are jaw-dropping. While Cordero's BMW was dinged up, the other driver's windshield was completely smashed in, after police said the deer jumped onto the highway below, landing in the car.
The doe did not survive. Somewhat miraculously, the driver only suffered minor injuries after he lost control and crashed. The other vehicle cut sharply to the left, causing Cordero to T-bone the other car.
"Out of nowhere — not like he hit something out of nowhere — it was literally, boom, there," Cordero recalled. "I feel really bad for that guy. I can only imagine what a traumatic experience it is. If that deer would’ve been positioned in any other way, maybe the hoof’s in a different direction, that would’ve easily impaled him."
Wildlife experts said deer are involved in thousands of collisions statewide each year. The state's Department of Environmental Protection said drivers could be at an increased risk for crashes involving deer in autumn, as most occur in the fall during mating season for the mammals.
