Deer crashes through windshield on Hwy. 20 near Sisters

A 79-year-old Terrebonne woman escaped serious injury Monday morning when her SUV hit a deer trying to cross Highway 20 west of Sisters and it crashed head-first through the windshield, Oregon State Police reported.

OSP troopers and emergency personnel responded around 7:30 a.m. to the collision on Highway 20 about three miles west of Sisters, said OSP lt. Bill Fugate.

Preliminary information indicates a 2006 Cadillac Escalade driven by Vonna Huggins was heading west when it hit a buck mule deer attempted to run across the highway. According to the driver, just prior to impact, the deer jumped and crashed through her windshield.

Huggins was able to safely bring her SUV to a stop after the crash, Fugate said. She was taken to St. Charles Redmond, where she was treated for minor injuries and released. The deer was killed in the collision.

“It is believed the deer’s horns struck the steering wheel, stopping it from further entering the passenger compartment and preventing further injury to Huggins,” Fugate said in a news release.

Fugate reminded the public that October is peak time for deer migration in Oregon, with the most deer-vs.-vehicle collisions of any month,

ODOT has more information at http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/COMM/Pages/nr15100502.aspx