Driver hits deer, loses control and slams into building, South Carolina officials say

A driver struck a deer and lost control of the vehicle before smashing into the side of a building, according to a South Carolina fire department.

The car was traveling on Betsy Kerrison Parkway on Johns Island at around 2:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 27, according to the St. John’s Fire District.

Johns Island is an 84-square-mile island in Charleston County, South Carolina.

The driver hit the deer before careening into the side of the building, which is used as a workshop and storage space, Ryan Kunitzer, fire chief of the St. John’s Fire District, told McClatchy News.

No one was inside the building at the time of the crash. The driver was taken to a hospital with minor injuries, according to the fire district.

Kunitzer said he did not have an estimate for the damage, but the Charleston County building department was inspecting.

Kunitzer said he did not know what happened to the deer.

Between July 2020 and June 2021, U.S. drivers filed around 2.1 million insurance claims involving animal collisions, according to State Farm Insurance.

In more than half of the cases, the animal struck was a deer, and the months with the highest risk of animal collisions were November, October and December.

In 2019, 185 people died in collisions with animals, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

This story was originally published October 27, 2022 at 11:51 AM with the headline "Driver hits deer, loses control and slams into building, South Carolina officials say."