It's Deer Mating Season: How To Not Hit One With Your Car

(Photo by Jeremiah John McBride/Flickr/Creative Commons)

October brings with it Halloween and cool weather, but it’s also the start of deer season and the time to make sure Bambi doesn’t come crashing through your windshield.

The odds of a U.S. driver making a claim for hitting a deer, elk or moose is 1 in 169,according to claim data analyzed by State Farm.

The cost? For each deer hit, $4,135.

And it’s not just deer or property affected. In 2013, 191 people died from hitting an animal, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

“Insurance claims for collisions with deer tend to spike in November,” Russ Rader, spokesman for the institute, told Patch. “We’re entering the peak period.”

The top five states nationwide where a driver is most likely to have a collision are, in order, West Virginia, Montana, Iowa, Pennsylvania and South Dakota, according to State Farm.

Fall is prime breeding season for deer across Georgia. It’s also when drivers are more likely to hit one, according to a new study from the University of Georgia.

UGA researchers looked at breeding data and compared it to deer-vehicle collision statistics in the state in a county-by-county analysis of peak times for possible deer-vehicle collisions.

According to the study, between 2005 and 2012, there were 45,811 reported deer-vehicle collisions in the state.

Deer-vehicle collisions increase during “rutting season” because white-tailed deer move around a lot more looking for mates, according to James Stickles, lead researcher on the project. Stickles, who led the study while earning his master’s degree from UGA’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, said researchers were able to create a map that more accurately reflects when motorists are in greater danger of hitting a deer. The new map lists specific peak dates for each of Georgia’s 159 counties.

Deer are mostly active from dusk to dawn and are rarely alone, researchers say.

See when the peak of the rut is expected in your county in the UGA-produced map below:

How To Avoid Hitting A Deer On The Road

1. Know the time of day

Dusk and dawn are the prime times for deer to be out in the road, according to the Association of Fish and Wildlife agencies.

Those times also can limit visibility, with the sun being near the horizon causing glare and affecting vision.

2. Don’t swerve

“You want to avoid the secondary collision,” Rader said. “And if you’re swerving suddenly, you’re increasing your risk by hitting another car or leaving the roadway.”

Instead, you should brake firmly when you see an animal in your path, but continue to stay in your lane.

3. Drive slowly

“The best advice is to heed deer warning signs and slow down in areas where deer are prevalent,” Rader said.

And if you see one, other deer are likely to be nearby. You can give your horn a short, firm blast to scare others in the area away.

4. Use your brights (when there’s no oncoming traffic, of course)

Not only will this help you see the road better, but it will help you detect deer more easily.

“The high beams will better illuminate the eyes of deer on or near the roadway,” the Insurance Information Institute says.

5. Don’t use special devices

Deer whistles and special reflectors for your car are marketed to scare deer away, but it’s more likely that they’re just another way to swindle some sucker out of five or 10 bucks.

“These devices have not been proven to reduce deer-vehicle collisions,” the institute says.

So I Hit A Deer; Now What?

State Farm gives six steps to take if you do end up hitting a deer:

1. Move your vehicle to a safe place: Get it off the road, if possible, and turn on your hazard lights.

2. Call the police: They can make sure traffic gets stopped, if needed, and take down information for your insurance claim.

3. Document the incident: Take photos of everything — the deer, your car, any injuries to you or your passengers. You should also get contact information from any witnesses who saw the crash.

4. Don’t touch the animal: It could be carrying disease, or if it’s still alive, it could get scared and hurt you.

5. Contact your insurance agent: Get the claims process going ASAP.

6. Don’t assume your vehicle is safe to drive: Check it for fluid leaks, tire damage, broken lights or anything else that may have gone wrong during the crash. If you have any doubts, call a tow truck.

The State Farm study used the company’s insurance claim data from July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015, and projected nationwide trends using data on state-licensed drivers. For more information, check out the full State Farm report here.