Dying to cross: Deer accidents highest in November

Since Sept. 1, more than 150 car accidents have involved deer in Southeast Missouri.

The Cape Girardeau Sheriff's Department reported roughly 50 deer-related accidents, while four were reported in Jackson and about 100 more by Missouri Highway Patrol Troop E.

Police say some accidents were not reported and anticipate the numbers will grow much higher as the deer hunting season ends.

Conservation and law enforcement officials say motorists have a higher risk of hitting deer in November than any other time of the year.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the state recorded 3,827 traffic crashes involving deer in 2004. Five people were killed and 337 people were injured because of deer-related car accidents. A deer strike occurred every 2.3 hours in the state, and a person was killed or injured by these accidents every 1.1 days.

Almost 80 percent of deer-related car accidents occurred on state-maintained roads.

Men are more likely to hit a deer than women. Almost 61 percent of deer struck were by men in 2004, according to statistics from the Missouri Highway Patrol.

The average cost per insurance claim for an animal-related accident is $2,800. When bodily injury costs are factored in the average cost becomes $10,000, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

Usually there is bumper, headlight, fender, hood and windshield damage, but if the deer spins after it's hit then often the doors have damage as well, Coad Collision Center's customer service manager Brian Green said. Green has seen hundreds of cars wrecked after hitting deer.

Often because of the cost of repairing the vehicle, the car is totaled out, he said.

This year there seem to be a lot more collisions with deer, Green said. Last week, in two days, four cars came in after hitting deer.

"The times have been a little bit different this year," Cape County Sheriff's Capt. Ruth Ann Dickerson said. "We've been seeing them as late as 10 in the morning which is kind of unusual. Normally by that time the deer have settled down a bit."

The Missouri Department of Conservation hasn't noticed any trend as far as time is concerned. Ken West, the Protection Regional Supervisor with the Missouri Department of Conservation said deer are active almost 24 hours a day.

In 2004 almost 90 percent of deer-versus-car accidents occurred between 5 p.m. and 6:59 a.m. and nearly one in three deer hits occurred on Friday or Sunday in 2004, according to the Missouri Highway Patrol.

Those statistics are most likely related to the number of people traveling for the weekend and hunters traveling to and from hunting areas, West said.

Most deer hits occur from September through mid-December, but it can happen anytime, Green said. He hit a deer in August.

In 2004, more than 50 percent of deer accidents occurred from October to December with more than 25 percent occurring in November, the patrol reported.

"Your worst time is during the rut when the deer are moving," Green said.

Hunting season coincides with when the most deer-versus-car accidents occur. That may be because the deer are disturbed by hunters, Green said.

West says The Missouri Department of Conservation defines the peak of mating season on or with in 24 hours of Nov. 15th.

They determine that day by measuring the fetus growth in does that have been hit and killed by cars.

West said weather and moonlight also determine when deer move -- they prefer darker nights and warm dry weather.

"If the weather's been dry and fairly sunny like it has been for the last couple of weeks, they're going to move more," Green said.

"I think where they get surprised is between the urban areas and the actual rural areas," Jackson Police Department Lt. Chris Mouser said. "From what the hunters are telling me, the deer apparently like it better in town."

Last November, Heather Blanton was driving down Highway 51 with her family from Carbondale on her way back to Cape Girardeau at 2 a.m. when a deer ran into her car.

"We couldn't do anything about it," she said.

The deer just darted onto the highway from the left-hand side of the road and totaled the car.

"It acted like it was going to stop and then it didn't, so I slammed on the brakes, but there was no way to avoid it," Blanton said.

The deer hit the windshield and made a big crashing sound, Blanton said.

"The deer actually cracking the windshield and looking up and just seeing fur was the scariest part," Blanton said.

Blanton ended up driving the totaled car about 45 more minutes back to Cape Girardeau.

In Anna, they stopped at a gas station to report the accident to a police officer stopped there. Blanton said she wanted to make sure the police knew they were driving home so they didn't get a ticket because the car only had one headlight.

Blanton said in the end she learned a lesson: To be more observant.

"I'm definitely paying more attention to the sides of the road especially at dawn and dusk and driving a lot slower at night," Blanton said.

Those are just a few of the tips Mouser advises drivers to observe in attempts to avoid deer car collisions.

"The best thing is to pay very close attention, keep your headlights on and keep your eyes open," he said.

Most experts say deer whistles don't work and that drivers should not rely on them.

Police have to notify the Conservation Department about the killed animal whether the impact of the accident killed the deer or the responding officer had to put the animal out of its misery, even if the driver does not want to keep the deer.

"I don't want to see it sit there and suffer. We normally, if it's in the roadway, move it off the roadway to a safe area and dispose of it," Mouser said.

ameyer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127