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Molino Woman Charged After Wreck Trying To Avoid Deer
October 31, 2011
A Molino woman was charged after a Quintette Road accident in Santa Rosa County in which she said she was trying to avoid a deer.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Karen L. Marini, age 44, was westbound on Quintette Road about three miles east of the Escambia River when she said a deer entered her path. She veered off the roadway, lost control of her 1999 Pontiac Firebird and struck a tree early Sunday morning.
Marini, who was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital with minor injuries, was charged with careless driving and failure to display a driver’s license, according to troopers.
Comments
13 Responses to “Molino Woman Charged After Wreck Trying To Avoid Deer”
If I am not mistaken the state of florida can be held accountable for the deer being there. Given she could prove the deer had caused the acciddent.
I had a similar thing happen to me last week on 95A….only it was red SUV, not a deer, that suddenly appeared, having moved from her lane right head-on into my path. Don’t know if she was on the phone, texting or what. I blared my horn and she moved back over into her lane. My heavy car, seat beat and air bags may have saved me if she had not moved, but her SUV was high and she would have probably rolled and been injured. If I had run off the road and into a tree to avoid a head-on collision, would I have been ticketed for careless driving?? Same thing happened on the same road a few years ago when an Esc Co deputy took off from FCN like a bat out of you-know-where. I was the ONLY vehicle on the road at the time and was headed north on 95A when he pulled out speeding South in the North bound lane…. ran me right off the road and into a muddy ditch. If I had not been so shocked and angry, I might have gotten his car number….would have like to have turned that bad boy in. He saw me go into the ditch but didn’t even slow down or stop to see if I needed assistance, just kept high-tailing it in the wrong lane. So it’s not just ANIMALS we have to watch out for when driving, it’s other PEOPLE. I try to drive defensively and always try to keep a safe distance between my car and the one in front of me…. just in case.
REGARDING:
“Many folks would automatically swerve away from an obstacle that suddenly appears in the road.”
Quite often things which “suddenly appear” were there all along but we just didn’t notice them. Lots of times I see a few deer on the side of the road eating. I watch carefully in case they decide to jump or walk into my path.
I slowed down and honked repeatedly this morning to convince a deer she should be somewhere else. It took a while to convince her I was serious about preferring she move. Even then she had to think a bit whether to go left or right. Since I had slowed, she had time to decide.
As to hitting or swerving, best to make up your mind in advance. If possible, slow down to give animal more time to move. If slight motion might avoid collision, consider it. Remember you have a horn and use if to get the animal’s attention, sometimes they are doing the deer equivalent of texting (concentrating on other things) and simply haven’t noticed your approach.
Please don’t run into me or anyone I might care about in order to save a deer someone might well shoot tomorrow (or tonight). Please don’t kill yourself to save a deer unless you are a verrrrrrry bad person — and verrrrrry bad persons tend to not care about deer in the first place.
David with thoughts for next time
jeeperman….good luck plowing into a immovable tree at 40+ mile per hour…if u wanna swerve to save a deer, u might have just swerved to take your own life! quit using the excuse you were swerving from a deer, just admit you were texting or talking on the phone!
When the belly of an animal is high enough that the hood of your car is going to go under it, your going to end up with the animal going thru your windshield.
Good luck plowing into an 80lb+ deer, head on at 40mph or more.
I see it all the time in Escambia county. Look back just on North Escambia.com People tyring to miss deer end up with a destroyed car or seriously injured. And you will just about always be written a wreckless driving ticket. I suggest never leave the roadway to avoid a animal. Just last week on 97 there was a car at 4:45 am upside down that had hit a tree trying to miss a deer. Most deer I see are probably 80 to 90 lbs. The impact would cause far less damage tha a tree that does not move or rolling down the ditch into a tree. How many people do you hear were hurt when they just hit the deer in a car or truck? Yes I know a motorcycle you just gotta hope for the best.
I drive 97 and 29 around 4:30 am several times a week.
At the outset this lady was already breaking the law by operating a vehicle without having a license to display. It seems that when most people have a single car accident barring bad weather , the first thing they say to the investigator is the old reliable ” I was trying to avoid a deer ” trick. That way it gives the investigator the burden of proving that no deer was involved rather than the person having to prove that indeed a deer was involved. I’m not saying the lady was lying but most troopers would without hesitation give the benefit of the doubt to the driver. This trooper chose not to for some reason. Was she texting or talking on the phone ? Who knows?
Sounds like the trooper might have seen a different scenario while conducting his investigation.
wow, gotta be more to this,suprised the trooper didn’t charge her for assault on the tree.
It smells like this could have been much worse. I doubt if Ms Marini is complaining too very much.
Unchained dogs, yes that is exactly what you should do, Never try to dodge an animal, unless you can do it safely and stay on the roadway, that is probably why she was given the ticket, the damage from the deer will be less than hitting a fixed object or flipping the vehicle. Never risk your life for the animal. You will not get a good outcome when car verses shoulder at 55 mph.
This article has a funny odor to it. There is more to this than the copy presents, either an over zealous deputy/trooper, or a “near” DUI. Hundreds of people have died as a result of striking deer, elk, and livestock. Avoiding an impact with a deer shouldn’t be against the law.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone being charged with careless driving for swerving out of the way of a deer in the road. In my opinion, charging her for that is ludicrous. What was she supposed to do…plow into the deer and hope for the best? Many folks would automatically swerve away from an obstacle that suddenly appears in the road. I know my refex actions would have done the same as Ms. Marini.