Tips to avoid hitting deer
According to Green County Sheriff Randy Roderick, there are several things drivers can do to help avoid hitting a deer. His suggestions include:
- Watch out between dusk and dawn when deer move between daytime bedding sites and evening feeding areas.
- Expect deer at deer crossing signs. The signs identify dangerous areas of the road where deer are likely to be seen.
- Drive defensively. If you see a deer on the road, slow down. And never assume there is only one deer. Deer often travel in groups and after one deer crosses the road, drivers should be on the lookout for more.
- Hit the deer, not something else. Don't swerve to avoid the deer because that could lead to a more serious accident.
If a driver hits a deer, the driver should pull over and contact the police, he added.
"All of the sudden it was just there," he said, of the deer he recently struck.
Keepers said that, like most people in the area, he knows to watch out for deer in the country, especially on County E in Albany township. His crash, like many, happened at night - it was about 12:15 a.m. Nov. 13. And also like most car vs. deer accidents, there was little he could have done to avoid it.
Keepers watched both sides of the road as he drove, trying to spot any deer.
But "I didn't have any time to react," he said.
Keepers was one of 1.6 million people who are involved in a crash caused by a deer every year, according to AAA. And one of scores of people in the same predicament here: From Jan. 1 to Oct. 23, there have been 182 crashes involving deer, said Randy Roderick, Green County sheriff.
During the same time last year, there were 198 crashes, he said.
"I don't know why the numbers are down, but the numbers aren't that much less than last year," Roderick said.
Car-deer crashes typically increase during October and November as deer look for mates, crops are harvested and hunting season begins.
In November 2009, Roderick said, there were 116 car-deer crashes in Green County. According to reports from the Green County Sheriff's Department, there have been 66 car-deer crashes so far this November.
Last year's November car-deer crashes was higher than the numbers for 2008, 79; and 2007, 82, Roderick added.
According to the Lafayette County Sheriff's Department's new releases, there have been 42 car-deer crashes in November of this year.
Rod Hesgard, owner of Hesgard Collision Center in Monroe, said his business has increased 30 to 40 percent this fall because of car-deer crashes.
"We've been swamped," he said. "This is our busiest time of year."