WILMINGTON — Around 1,546,739 deer collision claims in the U.S. across the car insurance industry between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019, according to a report by State Farm Insurance.
Though Ohio didn’t make the list of the top 10 states most likely to have animal collisions, Ohio State Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeremy Grillot told the News Journal that, through Thursday, Oct. 18, there had been 101 deer crashes in Clinton County this year.
This is up from 89 during the same period last year; there were 151 total reported in 2018.
Grillot said the OSHP saw 40 deer-related crashes in Highland County throughout 2018. with 25 crashes involving deer through last Wednesday. So far, Grillot said, the state patrol has seen 22 deer-related crashes for this year to date in Highland County.
”They’ll pick up quite a bit this fall,” Grillot said. “They move a lot more as it gets cooler because of mating season. As the crops start coming off, they have less cover and get chased out of corn fields. Hunting season also chases them out. You definitely see an uptick in deer crashes as the fall weather comes.”
State Farm recommends:
• Stay alert when in areas deer frequent, especially around dusk and dawn
• Use high beams to illuminate dark roads.
• If a live deer is in the road, you might flick the high beams on and off as well as using the car horn to get it to move on.
• If possible, don’t swerve if you encounter a deer; instead, brake hard as long as no other drivers are behind you and reduce speed as necessary; remember the saying, “If you see one deer, there are probably more nearby.”
Reach McKenzie Caldwell at 937-402-2570.
