McCrory [AR] officer dies after patrol car hits deer Thursday morning

Twitter ^ | 8:58 a.m. 15 SEP 16 | By Austin Cannon

[DCBryan1]

McCrory [AR] officer dies after patrol car hits deer Thursday morning

By Austin Cannon

This article was published today at 8:58 a.m.

A McCrory police officer died Thursday morning after his patrol car hit a deer on Arkansas 17.

In a news release, Arkansas State Police said Officer Robert Barker, 26, was driving north on the highway at about 5 a.m. to assist a sheriff's deputy from Woodruff County. Barker was south of Patterson when his vehicle hit the deer.

Barker, a four-year veteran at the McCrory Police Department, was pronounced dead from his injuries at a hospital in Searcy, the release said.

[DCBryan1]

Rip young officer. Deer season can't come soon enough.

[poobear]

How awful. RIP Officer.

[Vaquero]

I assume he plowed into something more substantial than a deer after hitting it and loosing control.

[NRx]

Memory eternal. Prayers for his family.

[bgill]

Deer are evil. They’ll run at you and turn around and do it again.

[Mr. Douglas]

deer are to motorcyclists what sharks are to surfers.

[T-Bone Texan]

The greatest cause of death for police is traffic accidents.

In most of those cases the officer was ruled at fault.

[backwoods-engineer]

Of course, according to the media complex, hunting Bambi is an evil, savage ritual, only practiced by subhuman Southrons, not population control to keep deer off roads.

And internal combustion engines are evil, too, so the vehicle probably sought out to kill Bambi. The cop was just collateral damage, in the eyes of the radical Left.

[Wilhelm Tell]

I hate deer - I do not think they are “cute” - I guess they serve a purpose in nature but they are also pests - dangerous pests. They will jump in front of cars and even jump in the middle of the road and stand there.

[Mr. Douglas]

That was my assumption as well.

[CrazyIvan]

“deer are to motorcyclists what sharks are to surfers.”

I live in rural Illinois. Every bike I’ve owned has had a set of auxiliary lights aimed to specifically illuminate the sides of the road. Been damn glad I had them a few times.

[Mr. Douglas]

When I rode a lot, my simple rule of thumb was to, other than commuting on I-5 in rush hour in Seattle, I refused to ride at night.

My next bike will be a slingshot or something like it.

[Dawgreg]

This is so tragic. We moved to the “country” 44 years ago and now there’s development all around us destroying habitat of forest critters especially deer. You hit one of them and it’s like an 18 wheeler hitting you. Our friend was injured and her car was destroyed on the side the deer hit her car. Prayers up for the family of this officer.......;(

[Panzerfaust]

Not necessarily. A deer can be leaping across the road and be at windshield height when hit, thereby entering the passenger compartment and striking the occupant(s). A deer can also be hit while on its feet and then come up and over the hood and enter the passenger compartment. Being hit in the head/torso by a 100-lb plus,animal can be fatal.

My father hit a deer while going 65 mph. The deer thankfully went under the front end of the car, to my dad’s relief. Turns out though that the deer’s body jammed the steering rack and was wedged in the wheel well. This effectively disabled the steering on the car and my dad was thus piloting a car at 65mph w/ no ability to steer. Thankfully the wheels were locked in an almost-straight position and he was on a straight road. He was able to stop before going too far off the road. They are a serious threat to motorists.

[DCBryan1]

I assume he plowed into something more substantial than a deer after hitting it and loosing control.

Sometimes. White tail deer usually over 100 lbs. If a giant picked up a sofa and threw it at you at 60 MPH, you probably wouldn't survive it. Most deer strike fatalities in AR are death from blunt trauma to the chest, blunt trauma to the head, depatitation of the head (smashes head/empties contents) or exsanguination due to horns of bucks into head/neck area, or lastly, as you said: loss of control after being incapacitated. Passengers and rear passengers are also at great risk if the deer makes it over the hood.

If you're not squeamish, just google DEER STRIKE and turn the search filter from moderate to off. Don't look if you don't have a strong stomach.

[RegulatorCountry]

Not necessarily. If the deer rolls up onto the hood and through the windshield at highway speed, you’re going to be seriously injured if not killed.

[tired&retired]

“Not necessarily. If the deer rolls up onto the hood and through the windshield at highway speed, you’re going to be seriously injured if not killed.”

My neighbors had that happen with a horse that broke loose and got on the highway. Right through the windshield on their laps. They were hurt pretty bad.

My first thought at seeing the headline... “Oh deer!”

[beelzepug]

If you have one come through your windshield, all bets are off.

[Covenantor]

Aviation Scrapbook>

When a deer hits your Citation upon landing, ruptures the wing’s fuel tank and sprays raw fuel into an engine (think Concorde), this is the result. Scratch one Customs and Border Patrol Citation II (down to 25 now), just completing acceptance testing in South Carolina after major modifications like a glass cockpit and new mission radar and sensors. Crew escaped unharmed.

[RegulatorCountry]

There was a multiple fatality accident not far from where I live, due to vehicles hitting a horse. Nighttime, bad storm, horse panicked and got loose, onto a roadway. Poor visibility, black horse. It was a sad story all around, two families lost a parent, horse was well-loved, owners horrified and grief-stricken. I still think of that when I drive through there.