Deer collisions

  I have written much about safe driving, especially in winter, when deer congregate in winter feeding areas.

With the bucks rutting and the ladies running from them in the fall, then hunting for food in winter, it can be crazy.
There have been several deaths due to cars hitting deer. Deer weigh between 100 - 300 lbs., they are quite heavy beasts despite their nimbleness.

Able to leap tall cars in a single bound.

My favourite yearling, Tigger, bounces around the yard. He dances, bounds, jumps, leaps. Entertaining and worth his weight in deer feed!

Each detachment keep information about individual detachment collisions. One has to visit the Police Service Board at the local township office to find the information for each Township. But here is an article I read after a press release...

 Vehicle-wildlife collisions up in January
NorthernLife.ca

OPP warn about the hazards of driving at dawn and dusk, but especially between 6 and 9 p.m. Animals are on the move during the fall seasons (Oct., Nov., Dec.). Now they are desperate for food.  The story doesn't always end well for the driver. Seldom ends well for Bambi.

• Use your high beams. 
• Watch for unsafe passing conditions. 
• If you can't avoid hitting the deer, due to an oncoming car, then do better the deer than the car. 
• Look in the ditches, watch for deer in the headlights.

Many have posted information about avoiding deer collisions. Even EMS crews are not immune.
See EverydayEmsTips, for one post on how to avoid them.

storage shed/wood shed

While we have much lower stats in Ontario, our population is 1/10th of that in the US' 300 million...

When you consider the population of the US, the numbers are staggering.

Deer-Vehicle Collision Frequency Jumps 18 Percent in 5 Years

Sandy Smith wrote in 2009... 

Eating bird seed under the feeder

In 35 states there are 7,000 collisions a year. With an increase of cars on the road of 7%, New Jersey and Nebraska have posted the largest increase: 54 percent.  Kansas is next at 41 percent. Deer-vehicle collisions have jumped by 38 percent in Florida, Mississippi and Arkansas, followed by Oklahoma (34%) and West Virginia, North Carolina and Texas (33 %).

Using its claims data, insurer State Farm estimates 2.4 million collisions between deer and vehicles occurred in the United States during the 2-year period between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2009 (100,000 per month).  That's 18.3 percent more than 5 years earlier.