NMA E-Newsletter #146: Oh Deer!


There are three primary deer hunting seasons in most states: gun, bow, and car. We were reminded of the latter this past weekend when ushering an out-of-town guest – actually a long-time NMA member – through some pretty countryside scenery between Waunakee (home of the national office) and Madison, Wisconsin.

No harm done, thank goodness, but the sight of the bounding deer coming across the field toward us provided a strong test of the car’s brakes and our nerves.

It has been almost two years since we have covered the topic of deer-car collisions so it is a good time to provide some helpful information.

After all, the deer population hasn’t stopped migrating or mating during the months of October, November, and December, the period that motorists are most at risk of colliding with the animals that have no innate sense of avoiding other moving objects.

Drivers would do well to be on high alert during this year-end period. State Farm Insurance reported last year that deer-vehicle collisions increased by 20 percent during the preceding five years, even though vehicle miles driven across the U.S. only went up 2 percent during the same period.

Just as sobering is the average damage to a car or truck in a deer collision: $3,100 in 2010 according to State Farm.

A slightly-flawed solution to the problem of hitting deer during their most active season was presented by an Indiana man in this brief letter to the editor.

You might want to refer to NMA E-newsletters #49 (Bambi Alert!) and #50 (Bambi Alert, Part 2) for more sage advice.

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