by: Shannon Stockdale
It's that time of year again....hunting season! For those of you with a passion for the sport I know that it means spending hours in the woods after days of scouting to find that deer. It's also car-deer collision season.
My husband is an avid hunter. Some days, when he heads out to the woods I leash up the dogs and we head out for a long walk on the road. Hubby and I compare notes upon our return...who saw more deer? Some days it's me! One day I saw eight deer cross the road 100 feet in front of me! This is exciting when you are on foot and may stop in awe of the animal's beauty. It's another case when you are behind the wheel of a car.
We've all been there, some of us lucky enough to avoid the accident and others not so lucky. Sometimes the deer seems to be in a suicidal mood of sorts. It appears they see you, yet they dive into the road anyway, challenging you to a game of chicken you had no intention of participating in, yet now the stakes are too high to avoid.
An insurance study conducted by State Farm in the year 2004, reported there were 150 human deaths in the United States that were directly linked to car-deer accidents. I live in a rural area where sometimes there is more wildlife on the road than traffic. After hitting a deer myself a few years back there are a couple of things I do to avoid another collision.
#1 > Where there is one there are MORE. Spotting one deer in the roadway, my first thought is where are the rest? Sure enough there are always more deer traveling ahead of behind of the deer I spotted.
#2 > If at all possible do not participate in their game of "chicken". I usually come to a complete stop. I give the deer the right-of-way and after they are back on their path and not blocking mine I proceed.
#3 > Sometimes it is better to hit the deer you cannot avoid than to try to avoid the deer and wind up losing control of the vehicle. We've all heard those stories too. Someone manages to avoid hitting the deer and instead overturns their vehicle resulting increased damage, injuries to themselves..or worse.
The link below gives some more tips for avoiding a collision with a deer and contains more specific information about the study conducted in 2004.
Safe travels to you all!
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/car-deer-collisions-in-the-united-states.html
