A Hudson Valley man is still recovering from a bizarre run-in with a deer on the road that police say should never have happened.

I've recently noticed an uptick of deer crossing roadways on my daily commute in Dutchess County. It's the time of year when deer get more desperate for food and begin to wander out of the woods and onto nearby roadways.

Just this weekend I saw a shy-looking deer poking his head out of the trees ahead of me. From my experience, I instinctively pumped the brakes in anticipation of what would happen next. Right on cue, the deer suddenly decided he should cross the road and lept out of the trees onto the roadway in front of me. Thankfully., I was able to stop but recently, a fellow Dutchess County driver wasn't as lucky.

It was a normal Thursday afternoon when a Hopewell Junction driver was traveling through New York State in his vehicle. The 56-year-old man found himself in the same situation I was when I encountered that deer in the road. It was just after 3:30pm when the animal lept out in front of his car. Unfortunately, this guy wasn't as prepared for the deer as I was and wound up having to swerve out of the way to avoid hitting it.

According to WIVT, the Hopewell man wound up driving off of the roadway and directly into a pond. While not injured, the man's car had to be towed out of the water. I guess deer aren't content with just causing accidents, now they're looking to drown their victims too.

After the incident, state police issued a reminder to motorists about handling a car vs deer situation. They say it's imperative to never swerve your car to avoid an animal in the road. Instead, drivers should always remain in their lane and brace themselves for the inevitable.

Stay in your lane and break firmly should a deer enter the road, and you should never swerve.

It turns out that it's safer to hit the brakes and risk hitting a deer than to steer around it and potentially hit a tree or wind up like that Hudson Valley driver that landed his car in a pond.

If you do hit a deer, police say you should pull over when it's safe, put on your hazard lights and stay with your car until assistance arrives.

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