In the headlights
By Elizabeth Billips Associate Editor

- DIANA ROYAL

As the temperatures drop, vehicle collisions involving deer are expected to rise.

"We've had a pile of accidents reported," Farm Bureau Insurance agent Art Lively said, "sometimes one a day."

Agent Charlie Story knows where Lively is coming from. Monday was an expensive day for Story & Associates with three deer-accident claims totaling $20,000 coming in within hours of each other.

"Every year it's awful, and it seems to coincide with deer season," Story said. "When people go into the woods, the deer start coming out."

According to State Farm statistics, Georgia is ranked the sixth worst state when it comes to deer-vehicle collisions.

Burke County alone has averaged more than two a day for the past 60 days.

Although collisions have been minimal inside Waynesboro's city limits, Burke County Sheriff 's Office Records Supervisor Mary Johnson said that 119 drivers have reported hitting deer since Oct. 1.

While those numbers include about five damaged patrol cars, they don't include two Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) trucks that hit deer on the same day. Nor do those figures take into account the motorists who decided not to file reports.

Although none of this year's accidents resulted in serious injury, a collision with a deer last October was blamed in the death of a toddler in Midville. Fourth months prior to that, six people were seriously

injured in a violent crash on Highway 24 South when a driver swerved to miss a deer that stepped out in front of her.

Georgia DNR rangers say deer collisions are correlated with lots of factors, including the green patches of grass the Department of Transportation plants along roadways.

Other indicators include pressure from hunters, mating season, temperature and the phases of the moon.

Sgt. Charles Bennett of the Georgia State Patrol Office says wearing a seatbelt and driving the speed limit are the best

ways for motorists to avoid deer collisions or at least minimize damage.

"If a deer does step out, the most important thing you can do is not swerve to try to miss it," he said. "If you lose control of your vehicle, there's no telling where you'll end up ... and there will probably be more damage than if you went on and hit it."

Sgt. Bennett also warns the high-pitched whistles advertised to ward off deer do little more than foster a false sense of confidence.

"Don't waste your money on them," he said. "They may be guaranteed to work, but I can tell you they don't."