A 24-year-old New Jersey woman suffered serious injuries after an SUV struck her as she tried to help a deer already hit by another vehicle.
The woman was on a New Jersey road around 11:45 p.m. Tuesday when a southbound SUV hit her, The New York Post reported.
Mount Olive police and Morris County prosecutors said another vehicle had struck the deer before the woman tried to help it. The source did not provide an exact date for the collision.
Emergency crews airlifted the woman to Morristown Medical Center with serious injuries. Her condition after reaching the hospital was not immediately available.
The SUV driver, a 29-year-old woman from Flanders, was not injured. She remained at the scene and waited for police after the collision.
Authorities are investigating what led the SUV to strike the woman. No charges, arrests or traffic citations were disclosed.
Several central questions remain unanswered, including why the collision happened and whether the driver saw the woman before impact. Authorities also did not disclose what happened to the injured deer.
The names of the injured woman and the SUV driver were not released. The Mount Olive Police Department did not immediately respond when the Post sought further comment.
The known sequence is brief. A vehicle first hit the deer, the woman went to its aid, and another vehicle then struck her before police were called.
Compassion deserves respect, and serious crashes demand patient investigation. Accountability begins with establishing the facts before assigning blame.