LAWTON, Okla. — Video from inside a bus shows a driver’s calm reaction after a deer crashed into the vehicle through the windshield.
Alisha Sutton, who has worked for the Lawton Area Transit System for 10 months, was driving the bus when the deer suddenly joined her inside the vehicle, the City of Lawton said in a news release.
“I was like, I guess I gotta slow this bus down,” Sutton said. “I slowed it down and brought it to a stop right there in the road. And I wanted to get her off the bus. I was afraid it was going to try to run to the back of the bus and get hurt, try to escape that way.”
The video, posted on YouTube, shows Sutton calmly opening the door to the bus, allowing the startled deer to make its way off safely. Sutton then gets on the vehicle’s radio, and can be heard saying, “Ma’am, a deer just jumped through my window.”
“I was very happy to see how our driver handled the situation,” LATS general manager Ryan Landers said. “She was very cool, calm and collected. She did not panic, she did all the right things that you’re supposed to do on the safety side of things and ironically, on the customer service side of things.”
Sutton said she was in shock, and didn’t fully process what was happening until it was over.
“I was OK until I watched the tape myself and saw how close it was to ending up in my lap with me,” Sutton told KSWO.
The City of Lawton said there were no passengers on the bus at the time, and Sutton was not hurt. The deer was also said to be uninjured.
The bus was damaged, but has already been repaired and is ready to return to service, KSWO reported.
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