A drunk driver in Oklahoma learned the hard way that when you see four of something, sometimes you really are seeing four and not just multiples of the same thing.

Unfortunately, that realization came after he attempted to save the life of a goat that had strayed onto the roadway. He swerved to prevent impact, but instead mowed down three other goats in the process.

The incident occurred in Nowata County, Oklahoma. Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers say the injury collision took place just after 11 pm on County Road North-South 421, a few miles outside Nowata, News9.com reported.

The drunk driver in question was Raymond Pennington, and he was behind the wheel of a Mazda pickup northbound on the county road when he swerved to miss the goat and took out the others.

The 54-year-old was ejected six feet from the pickup. His driving ability was determined to be impaired by the drinking of alcohol, and he was not wearing a seat belt.

Pennington is in fair condition inside a Tulsa hospital.

All things considered, this could have turned out much worse for Pennington had he encountered this escaped circus zebra from Germany that camouflaged itself with traffic lines.

Would have probably left a far bigger hole in the front end of that Mazda anyway.

Of course, it might have turned out better for the goats had Mother Nature pulled the old switcheroo, but when it comes to animal-caused traffic accidents, there have to be casualties.

This hasn’t been the first time this year that goats have wandered their way off the farms and into our headlines.

In May, we brought you the story about a goat that shut down New Jersey traffic faster than you can say Congress.

The little guy escaped one morning and caused a two-hour holdup before he could finally be corralled.

[Image via ShutterStock]