Conventional wisdom is that October is a notorious month for car-deer crashes. In the fall, deer on the prowl to mate are active and while on the move often find their way in the path of vehicles.
October is a bad month for deer collisions and so is November, but they’re not the worst. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation reports June is actually the most, or one of the most dangerous and risky months for vehicle-deer crashes. Four of the past five years in Wisconsin, June ranked as the worst or second worst month for injuries caused by collisions with deer.
Why is June so dangerous? Like the fall, this time of year finds deer quite active as they look for spots to give birth. Yearlings tend to roam freely from their mothers. More deer moving about translates into more deer running in front of or into vehicles.
The Wisconsin State patrol says that between May and August, collisions are more likely to occur between 8 p.m. and midnight. At night, motorists, especially motorcyclists need to always be on the lookout for deer. Motorcyclists and their passengers are more at risk of being killed than other motorists in collisions with deer. Motorcycles were involved in five of the seven fatal deer-vehicle crashes in 2006.
The most commonly struck objects in Wisconsin crashes are, in this order, another vehicle, a fixed object, and deer. The Department of Transportation is still finalizing numbers for 2006, but preliminary data indicates there were 17,877 deer-vehicle collisions in Wisconsin last year, about 49 crashes per day. Dane County had the most crashes with 958, followed by Waupaca County 689 and Shawano County with 687.
To avoid a crash, the Department of Transportation suggests the following:
• Be vigilant in early morning and evening hours, the most active time for deer.
• Drive cautiously at all times
• Heed deer crossing and speed limit signs.
• Always wear your seat belt—there are fewer and less severe injuries in vehicle-deer crashes when seat belts are worn.
• If you see a deer by the side of the road, slow down and blow your horn with one long blast to frighten the deer away.
• When you see one deer, look for another one—deer seldom run alone.
• If you find a deer looming in your headlights, don't expect the deer to move away.
• Headlights can confuse a deer and cause the animal to freeze.
• Brake firmly when you notice a deer in or near your path.
• Do not swerve. It can confuse the deer as to where to run.
• It can also cause you to lose control and hit a tree or another car.
• The one exception is if you are riding a motorcycle. In this case, you should slow down, break firmly and then swerve if you need to in order to avoid hitting the deer. When swerving on a motorcycle, always try to stay within the lane if at all possible to avoid hitting other objects.
• If your vehicle strikes a deer, stay in your vehicle and do not touch the animal if it is still alive.
• The injured deer, in attempting to move, could hurt you or itself.
• Walking or stopping on the highway is very dangerous - you could be hit by an oncoming vehicle if you get out of your car.
• The best advice is to get your car off the road if possible, and call law enforcement.
Deer are not the only animals to watch out for. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) says small painted turtles along with large snapping turtles meet their fate by slowly attempting to cross roadways in search of food, mates, and at this time of year, nesting locations.
The DNR says motorists can expect to see turtle crossings near lakes, streams and wetlands this time of year because the roads separate the aquatic habitat where turtles spend most of their lives from the well-drained upland habitats where female turtles deposit their eggs. This yearly ritual reaches its peak from late May to June.
With temperatures fluctuating widely this spring, the turtle nesting season got started a bit later than usual, and the DNR predicts June will be a busy month for female turtles.
Most turtles will stop moving when they hear, see or feel a vehicle coming, so they are easy to drive around without going into the other traffic lane or off the pavement. What about that protective shell? The DNR says it does a turtle no good against a steel belted radial. A vehicle can kill an adult female and eliminate the potential reproduction in the affected population.
The DNR advises that if you see a turtle on the road and if it is safe to do so, carefully pull over and help the turtle to the side of the road it is facing. When helping an aggressive turtle off the road, the safest way to avoid being bitten is to gently drag it across the road by its tail, leaving the front feet on the pavement. It may help to use a stick that the turtle can bite, allowing one to grab the tail more safely.
The turtle season is closed until July 15 each year. That means picking turtles up off the road as pets or for food is illegal. Anyone who observes this being done is asked to contact the DNR hotline at 1-800-TIPWDNR (1-800-847-9367).
