Change in the season adds driving challenge

Change in the season adds driving challenge


You're going deer hunting this year, whether you like it or not.

Anyone who points a car down a country road or the Interstate this month and the next might just as well be wearing blaze orange and should definitely be wearing a seatbelt.

Already this year auto body shops are reporting the annual fall run-up in car-deer accidents is under way as the daylight hours get shorter. The mating season and the fall hunting also make deer more active in the woods and on highways.

As usual that means bad news for drivers, many of whom will look like deer in headlights as they realize they are going too fast to avoid a collision with the doe or buck that has bolted from the side of the road or is standing motionless as a vehicle screeches toward it.

In a hurry to get home? Consider for a minute that the average insurance claim from a car-deer crash runs more than $2,700 in the state. Of course, that doesn't count the time you have to spend waiting for the sheriff to arrive to clear the accident - or the time you have to spend waiting at the repair shop, either.

It's not an uncommon scenario, either. A Madison newspaper report this week cited state Department of Transportation figures which showed 17,555 deer-motor vehicle collisions last year. Add to that the more than 42,000 dead deer collected along state roadways from unreported collision and you're looking at a deer kill somewhere in the neighborhood of 60,000 animals each year.

By comparison, hunters with guns, bows and muzzleloaders typically kill somewhere around 520,000 deer during the fall hunting season, so vehicles account for perhaps 10 percent of the deer kill.

The difference, of course, is that the hunters are aiming to take the deer down, while the drivers are not. The deer hunt is big business in Wisconsin, generating about $1 billion dollars in spending, according to some economic impact estimates.

Car repair can't be far behind. The Wisconsin State Journal reports that the state's largest auto insurer, American Family Insurance, paid out about $23.6 million in non-injury collisions with animals.

Deer generally get the short end in such collisions, but drivers and passengers can end up with serious injuries as well. Last year, for instance, more than 660 people were injured in such collisions, according to state statistics. And 12 people - all motorcyclists - were killed in collisions with deer.

Those 660 injury-accidents and 12 motorcyle deaths last year compare to less than 20 shooting accidents with injuries each year for the past several years, and no year recently has come close to 12 hunting deaths. By that standard you might be safer in the woods than on the highways in the coming weeks.

October and November are the worst months for such crashes, so slow down - especially at dawn and dusk. Make sure you can stop your vehicle if there is an animal on the road. Drive cautiously and watch the roadsides for the tell-tale reflection of an animal's eyes. Look for more than just one deer. And buckle up.

Don't be caught looking like a deer in headlights.