The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Tuesday, January 01, 2019 03:02 PM
Pregnant Woman Has "Scary" Encounter With Bear As It Ran Smack Dab Into Side Of Car Near Gatlinburg
Brittany Ogle said she was driving down East Parkway on June 14 when the bear ran into her near the intersection of Branam Hollow Road.
"I seen it right as it was crossing the oncoming lane, (but) it was too late," Ogle said. "It happened like within a second.
"I cried. it was very scary."
Ogle said she's pregnant and is about three months along. She went to her doctor on Monday just to make sure her baby was doing OK after the collision.
"All is good," Ogle said.
A family friend, Luke Dixon, just happened to sitting at the Branam Hollow Road intersection as he was leaving his job at CLIMB Works. He said there were actually two bears that had run out in front of him on his drive down the road, and he knew they were headed to the highway.
"So when I pulled up there, I pulled out my phone and started to video right as the first bear crossed," Dixon said. "I just sat and waited on the second, just in case something crazy happened. And sure enough, it did."
You can see Dixon zooming in on the second bear as it appears on the side of the road.
The bear can be seen in the video running back and forth a little before it decided to dart across the road, and into Ogle's car. The bear hits, and the impact spins it in a complete circle before it continues running across the road and off into the woods.
Ogle said Dixon didn't realize it was her car the bear hit, and she didn't realize he was filming as it happened. When she saw the video appear on her Facebook timeline later, she told Dixon it was her car and he sent her the video.
She contacted her insurance company, who told her they would not pay to repair the big bear-sized dent in her car because she did not have collision coverage on her policy.
