Tips to limit deer, vehicle collisions

While Northwest Autobody has some fun with the names it gives its annual food bank fund drive — Deervember, Doevember, Bucktober, etc. — deer and other animal strikes versus automobile can be serious and even deadly.

 In a study issued last year in the journal Cell Biology, it was reported:

Around 2.1 million deer-vehicle collisions occur annually.

• Those collisions cause more than $10 billion in economic losses annually.
• Each year these accidents account for 59,000 human injuries and 440 deaths.
• By comparison, there were just two deaths in the U.S. in 2023 by shark attacks.
•  How to avoid an accident or minimize unintended consequences.

 Deer are crepuscular. This means they are most active and dawn and dusk — both low-light situations. Avoid traveling then or be extra diligent.

• Be extra alert where the woods come out to the road.
• In Idaho, drivers had a one in 157 likelihood of an accident involving an animal. Idaho ranks 32 in the nation, according to State Farm. Montana was second with a one in 54 chance and West Virginia was No. 1 with one in 40.
• Stay alert.
• Flick your high beams.
• Don’t swerve.
• Brake as necessary. If you can avoid hitting the animal, reduce speed, honk your horn and tap your brakes to warn other vehicles. If there are no vehicles behind you, brake hard, stop, roll down your window and yell at them.
• Watch for the other deer. Where you see one, there are probably others hiding who dared it to go first.
• Don’t worry about deer whistles. No scientific evidence they work. There is a theory that if the whistles are installed backward, they may actually attract deer.
• Wear seatbelts, obey the speed limit and leave distance between you and other vehicles.
• Check with your insurance company to see your coverage for these types of accidents.
• The old saying goes, that there are two types of people who live around here — those who have hit deer and those who will.