Motorists should be keeping an especially keen eye out for deer over the next couple of months as the mating season gets under way, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
The season is at its peak in October and November and deer are more active, particularly at dusk and dawn when they move back and forth between their bedding and feeding areas. With their increased activity, deer often will dart unexpectedly into the path of vehicles.
Shawano County, which typically has among the highest number of car-deer collisions in the state, has already seen the number of such crashes starting to tick up again. The Sheriff’s Department logged 23 car-deer accidents over the past week.
Last year, Shawano County had the second highest number of deer-related crashes with 800. Dane County had the most with 851. Waukesha County was third with 710.
In Shawano, Green Lake and Taylor counties, more than half of all reported crashes in 2012 involved deer.
Wisconsin law enforcement agencies reported a total of 18,895 motor vehicle crashes with deer in 2012, according to the DOT.
“To avoid hitting a deer, drivers must slow down whenever they see deer in the area. If you see one deer, there are probably more nearby that could dash in front of your vehicle,” said David Pabst, director of the WisDOT Bureau of Transportation Safety.
“If you can’t avoid a deer, it’s safer to hit the brakes and hit the deer than to swerve suddenly and try to miss it,” he said. “If you swerve, you risk losing control of your vehicle and rolling over or hitting another car or a stationary object, like a tree.”
Motorcyclists must be especially careful because deer crashes can be fatal to riders and passengers. Motorcycles were involved in 13 of the 14 fatal deer versus motor vehicle crashes in Wisconsin last year.
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