Published November 22, 2006

Deer, highways: A dangerous mix
When collisions occur,
neither driver nor animal conquer

By Michael Moore
One morning last week, this correspondent was assigned a story about what appears to be a recent rash of deer-vehicle collisions in Pickens County. Ironically that night, your humble narrator survived a run-in with a buck who dashed from the darkness of Highway 515 directly into the front of his sedan, causing extensive damage to the vehicle, and terminal damage to the deer.
If you are superstitious you could blame this inconvenient occurrence on the editor though, luckily for him, the insurance company considered no such absurdity.
Realistically, there have been many auto accidents involving deer and local drivers lately, according to body repair shops, insurers, and the drivers themselves.
Pickens County is already densely populated with deer. As the human population grows, pushing the game out of their natural habitat, the conflict between cervid and man poses increasing problems, according to numerous studies by the Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR). As a result, collisions with the bigger, heavier and faster vehicles along forest-lined roadways have become inevitable.
Local body and collision repair shop owners say they see more damages from such accidents at this time of year. Every year, the first two to three weeks of November are the animals' breeding season, and excited males looking for female company on a cold night don't take the time to consider the consequences of running directly into the front of a moving ton-and-a-half block of lit metal.
Bill Johnson, a deer hunter and manager of Jasper Paint and Body, said in one recent week, seven vehicles damaged by deer were brought to his shop. In one day, he received five deer-damaged cars.
These included a brand new Ford Mustang, a Hyundai minivan, a Land Rover that was totaled, a GMC Jimmy, a Chevrolet Cobalt, and a Ford Focus.
At R & R Body Shop, owner David Johnson said in the last month he has worked on about three vehicles per week that won, with scars, encounters with deer. And Keziah's Body shop in Ball Ground has worked on about ten vehicles with deer-smashed fenders already this fall.
Most body shop owners say auto accidents involving deer occur year-round, but the highest frequency of such mishaps is easily in October, November and December. There has not been a noticeable increase in such accidents from previous recent years, they said.
John Bowers, assistant chief of game management for DNR, Wildlife Resources Division (WRD), said each year there are about 50,000 to 70,000 deer-auto collisions in the state of Georgia.
"It's a major problem in the metro Atlanta area, especially on high volume commuting routes," said Bowers. Continued on page 10A
According to a spokesman from the Georgia Insurance Commission, in 2004 there were at least 78,000 traffic accidents statewide involving motor vehicles who have hit deer, or run off the road to avoid hitting deer.
The total cost of those accidents, which is covered by insurance if the driver has comprehensive coverage, adds up to a staggering amount. David Johnson estimates the average damage caused by deer to cars brought to his shop is over $2,000.
Ken Pint of Pint-Stephens Allstate insurance in Jasper, said he has processed four claims for damages due to deer so far this fall (more than usual for him), and the damage is usually "extensive."
Amy Rueffert, whose Hyundai Entourage minivan was in the process of repairs in a shop last week, said she hit a deer on Highway 369 between Ball Ground and Alpharetta. The dollar amount of the damage exceeded $4,000, she said.
There is even a consistent pattern of the placement of damage on the vehicles involved. Almost all deer-hit automobiles observed in shops last week showed body damage to the hood, and either the left or right fender, grill, headlight and front door.
Rueffert said the deer she struck darted from the dark shoulder of the road, straight into the front of the minivan, leaving the driver little time to react. The same happened to this reporter's Nissan Maxima.
While survival of the colliding deer is rare in such accidents, injury to the vehicles' occupants is also rare. According to Bowers, out of 133,000 human injuries statewide in all motor vehicle accidents, only 700 were the result of deer involvement.
He said it is important that if a run-in with a cervid appears inevitable, the driver should not swerve the vehicle. Doing so could cause a collision with another car or obstacle on the shoulder of the road, and serious injury to the people involved.
The smartest way to react to a guaranteed deer crash is to hit the brakes and slow down "quickly and safely," and keep the car inside the lines on the road.
He also said drivers should be extra cautious on roads where they have previously noticed dead deer near the shoulder. "Try to stick to the speed limit. The faster you are going, the more damage you can cause to your vehicle," said Bowers.
Also, drivers should be most aware in the early morning and the late evening, when the deer are most active.
Bowers said there are two ways to control the deer population - firearms and automobiles. As development sprawls throughout the metro Atlanta area, people, cars and construction are infringing on the wildlife habitat of the deer.
And because most of the remaining forest areas are privately owned, opportunities to hunt and manage deer density with firearms have diminished. "So the primary control mechanism in those areas is the car," said Bowers.
It has been suggested that the DOT place deer abatement fencing on the side of four-lane and interstate highways in Georgia. But Bowers said such fencing would cost highly, and it still would not address the overall problem of deer control.