Now is the season for cars hitting deer as crashes increase
By Rachael Anne Ryals
Herald Staff Writer

Photo By Jasmine Luoma At Fellowship Church in High Springs, Chris Sansbury, Kenny Marr, Scott Delaney and Josh Bryant help construct a playground built in honor of Sansbury's daughter, Madison, who passed away. A bonfire burns in an adjacent field as the men work.

The trend of suburban areas moving into rural areas may be leading to more fatal collisions between vehicles and deer, according to a new study.

And with November being the peak month for such crashes, area officials are warning motorists driving on rural roads to be extra cautious.

“The biggest thing is to slow down,” said Alachua County Sheriff Deputy Perry Koon, with the Rural Services Unit.

The spread of suburban areas into previously rural areas is resulting in what Koon calls “pockets” of land that deer and people now share.

“Urban sprawl is changing things,” Koon said.

The study, released by the Highway Loss Data Institute, stated that the number of fatal crashes nationwide from deer and other animals colliding with vehicles has doubled since 1993.

In 1993, 101 people died nationwide in crashes involving animals while in 2000, that number had jumped to 150 and in 2007, the number was 223, according to the study.

In Florida, the number of fatal crashes ranged from two in 1993 to four in 2007, with a total of 58 between 1993 and 2007.

The states with the highest number of deaths from 1993 to 2007 were Texas with a total of 227, Wisconsin with total of 123 and Pennsylvania with total of 112.

The study, which used insurance claims to generate the data, also reported that animal strike claims without fatalities in the past five years has increased by 14.9 percent.

Karen Parker, with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said that rural, county roads like the ones in North Florida are the most likely places for deer collisions, especially this time of the year because of the combination of the hunting season and the mating season.

How to avoid hitting a deer

Parker said that motorists can help prevent many collisions by being aware of their surroundings.

She advises motorists to pay extra attention to the shoulder of the roadway when driving from 6 p.m. to midnight and around dawn – times when deer are most likely to be on the side of the roadway.

Deer are drawn to the side of roadways because they can drink water from retention ditches and the mowed grass is an easy place to graze for food, Parker said.

Parker advises motorists to slow “way down” if they see one deer because there are probably more in the area. Other tips include using a car's high beams when possible to help spot deer quicker and using a car's horn to scare a deer away.

Parker and Koon both advise drivers not to swerve to avoid hitting a deer because oftentimes that causes a driver to lose control of their vehicle and crash, which results in a more serious accident.

They advise instead for drivers to brake firmly, stay in their lane and hit the deer if they can't avoid a collision.

And, of course, wearing a seat belt, slowing down and not talking on a cell phone while driving are driving tips that can be applied to almost any situation.

“If you are driving 65 miles per hour down a country road,” Koon said, “you are not going to have time to react.”

What to do after hitting a deer

If a motorist does collide with a deer, there are several things they should know, Parker said.

First of all, don't try to help an injured deer because an injured deer can seriously hurt a person.

“Please, for the love of God, do not get out of the car and try to rescue the deer,” she said.

Instead, call the police. The police are authorized to humanely euthanize deer if needed, she said.

The FWC does not come out for deer collisions, Parker said, but a police report must be filed with an insurance claim involving animal crashes.

But if there are no injuries to people or damage to the vehicle, Parker said, motorists do not have to call the police unless the deer is injured.

And if the collision does kill the deer, Parker said, there are no laws that prevent someone from taking the deer home for its meat.

“We have no objections to that,” she said.

Koon said that even if the person who has hit the deer does not want the meat, then someone else usually does.

Either another motorist will stop and ask for the meat or sometimes the meat is taken to the St. Francis House, a homeless shelter, in Gainesville, he said. The deer meat is not usually wasted, he said, unless the crash heavily damaged the deer carcass.

“All the crashes I have been at, someone has always come along that is happy to take the meat,” Koon said. “Nothing is wasted.”