Get out of traffic lanes if you can.
/johnny
Its worse than a bad idea. He didn't even hit the gator bad enough to kill it outright so, the vehicle had to be operable. Some people shouldn't drive.
The gator was wrapped up in the rear wheels of the van. I-10 is 3 lanes wide plus two drivable shoulders, so the driver of the car was probably driving too fast and not paying attention. Drivers in that stretch of road at that time of the night will often drive at 85+ mph.