With the fall upon us and deer season rolling in its not hard to imagine deer will be on the move soon due to an influx of humans chasing or shooting them with guns.
It does not take a rocket scientist to know this time of year is the most common for deer related accidents, with a peaking number of incidents in the month of November.
Even without the gun traffic, United States drivers have a 1 in 169 chance of striking a deer in the coming year according to
State Farm, the nation’s largest car insurance company.
11 states have odds better than 1 in 100, which does not bode well for consumers’ premium prices.
The Insurance Information Institute offers this advice on avoiding a deer-vehicle collision:
- Deer generally travel in herds. If you see one, others are nearby.
- Deer crossing signs aren’t placed randomly. These are active deer crossing areas.
- Use caution between 6 and 9 p.m., when deer are more active.
- Use high-beam headlamps as much as possible at night, when appropriate, to illuminate the roadsides.
- Don’t swerve if a deer collision seems inevitable. You might lose control of your vehicle or even hit another car.
- A car-mounted deer whistle has not been proved to be effective.
Please feel free to embrace our comments section if you have any experience with the last point.
Without further ado, here are the top states for chances of hitting a deer this year:
- West Virginia: Chance of collision – 1 in 39; Projected collisions – 32,177
- Pennsylvania: Chance of collision – 1 in 71; Projected collisions – 123,941
- Montana: Chance of collision – 1 in 75; Projected collisions – 10,099
- Iowa: Chance of collision – 1 in 77; Projected collisions – 28,716
- South Dakota: Chance of collision – 1 in 82; Projected collisions – 7,420
- Mississippi: Chance of collision – 1 in 84; Projected collisions – 23,403
- Wisconsin: Chance of collision – 1 in 85; Projected collisions – 47,669
- Minnesota: Chance of collision – 1 in 88; Projected collisions – 37,549
- Virginia: Chance of collision – 1 in 88; Projected collisions – 63,145
- South Carolina: Chance of collision – 1 in 93; Projected collisions – 37,000
