Turkey Vulture Slams Through Front Windshield of Minivan on Highway
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Not exactly the best way to start your day.
The day started out like any other for Jorge Hurtado and his wife Vanessa as they got in their minivan and headed out onto route 80 in New Jersey Friday morning, but within a few minutes their day took a crazy turn as a Turkey Vulture flew strait through their front windshield. Luckily the bird crashed between Jorge and Vanessa and ended up in the middle of their backseat where it soon died from its injuries sustained in the crash.
Neither Jorge or his wife were seriously injured from the flying glass and Jorge did a tremendous job of never losing control of the minivan. He said his hands were shaking as he quickly and calmly guided the minivan to the shoulder of the busy highway and called 911. Vanessa went to the hospital and had a few minor cuts and pieces of glass removed from her face. Exactly why the bird flew into the Hurtado’s minivan is unknown and anybody’s guess.
Turkey Vultures are common in New Jersey and I see them virtually everyday flying around. New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the United States and it is fairly common for people to hit large animals like deer, raccoons and occasionally a black bear and I myself hit a deer once but I have never heard of a turkey vulture flying into a car. They are big ugly looking birds that stand 3 feet tall and have a wingspan of over 5 feet. They do like to hang out near the highways as they feed upon roadkill.
In researching this article I did find a case in 2004 where a Hunterdon County man driving a motorcycle was struck in the head by a turkey vulture. The man lost control of his bike while trying to remove the bird and struck another vehicle and died from his injuries.
4 Comments
I lived near a national park for a while. During that time, I ran into 5 deer (Five year period), got rear-ended missing a deer, had a deer attack the passenger door of my truck, and — yes — a large bird got caught in the down draft of my truck when I was in heavy traffic and struck the windshield. I lucked out–the glass held. The bird was not so fortunate.
I’ve heard of deer colliding with cars but never a turkey vulture, what a frightening experience it must have been!
I would say that really is a bad start of the day!!!
Originally being from New England, I just had to read this article because it’s been a while since I heard anyone talk about turkey vultures!
I’ve had run-ins with deer and rabbits…was even ‘accused’ once of killing the Easter Bunny because he ran out in front of my car on Easter Day…but I’ve never had any close encounters of the ‘vulture’ kind, thankfully!