Fatal crashes caused by deer at new high

WASHINGTON – Cars and motorcycles crash into deer more than 4,000 times a day, and it’s taking an increasingly deadly toll – on people.

Last year a record 210 motorists were killed in collisions with animals, mostly deer. That was 40 more than the previous year and more than twice the number in 1993, according to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

Accidents are most likely to happen in November, the institute said, because hunters are out and deer are in the middle of their mating season, both of which cause the animals to be on the move.

Crashes are most likely to occur during evening or nighttime, often on rural roads with speed limits of 55 mph or higher.

Deer are involved in about 75 percent of fatal animal-crash accidents. In all, there were 1.5 million deer crashes last year, injuring 13,713 people and causing $1.1 billion in vehicle damage, the institute said.