Deer, take heed: ‘Tis the season for car accidents

‘ ‘ ‘ Ah, fall. That magical time of year when a doe and a buck lock eyes through a clearing in… ‘ ‘ ‘ Ah, fall. That magical time of year when a doe and a buck lock eyes through a clearing in the trees, and with their hearts filled with deer-love and their eyes flooded with deer-passion, they bound out to one another, oblivious that they are heading for certain doom delivered by a 60-mile-per-hour metal death machine on wheels. ‘ ‘ ‘ That death machine is your car. And while you ‘mdash; and the deer ‘mdash; didn’t see it coming, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation did. ‘ ‘ ‘ PennDOT, along with Erie Insurance, State Farm, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the state Game Commission, recently issued advisories to drivers in and around the region where animal-vehicle collision rates are annually reported to be the highest in the nation. ‘ ‘ ‘ According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Web site, roughly 1.5 million deer-related accidents occur each year nationally, causing ‘more than 150 fatalities and tens of thousands of injuries and more than a billion dollars in property damage.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Erie Insurance, which reports using ten years’ worth of deer accident claims to perform an ‘in-depth annual analysis of deer-vehicle collisions’ in a report on its Web site, found that ‘deer claim frequency is highest in West Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Deer are involved in three out of four animal-vehicle accidents, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, with most accidents occurring in fall during the annual periods of deer mating and migration. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘The impacts occurred most often in rural areas, on roads with 55 mile-per-hour or higher speed limits, and in darkness or at dusk or dawn,’ said a study conducted by the Insurance Institute in 2005. ‘ ‘ ‘ PennDOT, which is in charge of clearing state roads following accidents and installing warnings such as deer crossing signs in high-traffic wooded areas, has tracked the number of crashes, fatalities and injuries from deer-vehicle accidents in Allegheny County and the state for the last five years. ‘ ‘ ‘ In 2007, Allegheny County residents reported 142 deer-vehicle crashes, down from 170 in 2006, no fatalities and 30 injuries. ‘ ‘ ‘ Statewide, Pennsylvania suffered 2,482 crashes, eight fatalities and 596 injuries last year. ‘ ‘ ‘ Mel Schake, an information and education supervisor for the Pennsylvania State Game Commission, said that urban drivers may be at risk for accidents they wouldn’t expect. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘When you have an area like Allegheny County, the number of deer killed is mostly consistent all year,’ said Schake. ‘ ‘ ‘ He said this is a result of a lack of hunting in urban areas, which allows the deer population to breed and grow unmolested. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘And anytime you have a large population of deer and a lot of roads, accidents are more likely to happen,’ he said. ‘ ‘ ‘ As the statistics show, animal-vehicle accidents are commonplace, and leaving a dead or injured deer in the road creates a potential hazard for other drivers. ‘ ‘ ‘ If a car hits a deer and the animal is blocking the roadway, Schake recommends the driver call the Game Commission or a local police department to respond to the situation. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘If a deer isn’t killed, if it’s only injured in a collision, whoever you call, the Game Commission or local law enforcement, they’ll kill it,’ said Schake. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘You can’t nurse them back to health,’ he said. ‘If an animal is on the highway, two things are occurring: An animal is suffering, and there’s the potential for another traffic accident.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ If the unfortunate driver is a fan of venison, however, the accident doesn’t have to be a total bust ‘mdash; at least not in Pennsylvania. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘You don’t have to be the one who hit the animal,’ said Schake. ‘If there’s a dead deer along the highway, any motorist and resident of Pennsylvania can claim it.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ There is a catch, however: In order to claim the animal lawfully, the driver must call the Game Commission within 24 hours of the accident to get a permit. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘You can’t just go and get a deer anytime you want,’ said Schake. ‘So in order for anyone to possess the deer, they must get a permit from us.’