An expensive lesson driving through Pleasant Hill at night: Your highway could be a deer’s front yard

By JESS W. HENRYES/For The Herald — It’s the time of year when drivers need to be wary of animals trying to cross Oregon roads.

With much of their environment damaged or destroyed by fires, deer and other wildlife such as elk are funneling into more populous areas, actively moving between food, water and cover for the new generation.

Angela Beers-Seydel, an ODOT spokesperson, said October and November are the months when most vehicle collisions occur.

“Deer and elk are migrating from their summer to winter ranges,” she said. “They can frequently appear on roads during dawn and dusk.”

However, drivers are at risk any time of day.

Eastbound Highway 58 cuts through Pleasant Hill. Though much of the roadway is lighted, between Gatehouse Pizza and Pleasant Hill Elementary the road dips and is extremely dark with tall grass lining the roadside. Drivers never know if that dark stretch of roadway is giving cover to migrating animals.

Authorities recommend drivers take extra caution when driving Highway 58.

A couple of weeks ago, I got an expensive lesson on dark highway driving. As I passed through Pleasant Hill on Highway 58, a deer walked out of the tall grass and started to cross the roadway. I immediately hit the horn and brakes.

The animal jumped and turned around, but sadly my car struck it on the right hip. With no more than 100 feet to stop my car, the collision was unavoidable.

I got out and looked around the area but did not see the deer, so I believed it was able to run away. However, I was not as lucky. The impact shattered the passenger light assembly, wrinkled the fender and folded part of the steel fender frame back into itself. This made a body repair too expensive for insurance to cover, so it was totalled.

I bought the car in April following a long search. Now my search begins again.,

Former newspaper journalist Jess W. Henryes of Oakridge describes himself as a skeptic by nature, a cynic by experience, and currently a reporter in recovery.