Welcome to Deer Season

Deer Season may be something hunters look forward to, but its not a good thing for drivers.

Drivers need to keep their eyes open for deer during deer season.

In most parts of the country, we have either just finished or are in the midst of deer season for the hunters. Unfortunately, even for those of us that don’t hunt we too are in the midst of a deer season – deer hitting season. This time of the year, October through December, there are more deer related car accidents than any other time of the year.

What can you do about it? Very little.

What’s up with the Deer Season for Drivers?

October through December, is when the deer roam the furthest from their normal homes. It really has very little to do with hunting season, and more because it is the deer’s mating season. During mating season, deer wander so far because they are trying to find a mate.

For those of us that live in rural areas, we notice very little increase in the number of deer accidents and dead deer on the side of the road as compared to any other time of the year. That’s because we live in or very near the natural habitat of the deer.

During mating season, they start roaming into more urban areas with drivers that are not used to seeing them as often.

Don’t Swerve to Avoid Hitting a Deer?

During deer season, or any other time of the year, if a deer jumps directly out in front of you on the road there is very little you can do. Most likely, you will instinctively swerve to try and miss the deer, but that may cause you to hit another car or put yourself in an even more dangerous situation (like, going down an embankment).

Also, if you swerve in the same direction that the deer is running, you just increased your chances of still hitting that deer. If you swerve in the opposite direction, and the deer was with its herd, you may very well end up hitting another deer that you didn’t see at first.

Lastly, if you swerve and hit anything other than a deer, your accident just went from being able to be paid under your comprehensive coverage to having to be paid under your collision coverage. For most people, they have to pay more out of their pockets for their collision deductible than they do for their comprehensive deductible.

Instead of swerving, hit the brakes. You may still hit the deer, but you could also be preventing a worse accident. So by stopping you also stop the motion of at least one of the objects (your car), thereby decreasing your chance of hitting the other object (the deer), if the deer continues to keep going.

To be continued……