I think the logic here is since the deer is alive and jumps in front of your car, it would be an "act of god". With a dead deer in the road and you hit it, then you were not driving safely or defensively, hence not an act of god. God already killed the deer.

Now I would argue on the second part that if you are driving around a blind corner and you hit a dead deer that you did not have time to see (this assumes you are at the speed limit) then you should not be penalized, but that would be a tough argument depending on what your insurance company rules are.

Mike V.