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Car-deer collisions can kill

By Tara Fasol, The Southern

Sunday, November 9, 2008 11:42 PM CST

Bambi is cute. But on the roads, he and his kin can be deadly.

One Marion teen was killed and another injured early Saturday on Interstate 24 in Kentucky when a deer ran onto the road. The teen's Ford Explorer struck the deer, then rolled several times.

Friday evening, a 19-year-old woman from Whittington was hospitalized after a deer hit by another car crashed through her windshield on U.S. 51 just south of Makanda Road in Jackson County.

Although no Southern Illinois counties fall into the top 10 for highest numbers of deer-vehicle accidents, officials locally say one accident is too many and drivers must be careful.

"Obviously, you want to be cautious at dusk and dawn, when deer are more active," said Chris McCloud with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. "It has been particularly warmer over the last several days and fairly mild for the start of the fall.

"If people are wondering why they haven't seen as many deer as they might have in the past, they can be sure they will start seeing them as it gets colder."

McCloud said deer get more active as the weather gets cooler, especially in this season when they are looking for food and mates.

"You need to be careful and reduce your speed and be ready to stop at all times," he said.

Perry County Sheriff's Department officials said there have been 13 car-deer accidents there since October, three already in November.

Union County officials reported 14 car-deer accidents since October, and other counties reported similar numbers,

Illinois Department of Transportation says although that might seem like a lot to drivers, statewide numbers actually are down from last year.

In 2007, 25,006 such crashes were reported in Illinois, down almost 2 percent from 2006.

Five people were killed in Illinois from crashes involving deer in 2007. Only one person was reported to have died as the result of a deer-related crash in 2006, according to a news release from IDOT.

"We are doing our part to help reduce the number of fatalities on Illinois roadways and motorists can assist us by simply being more alert," said Milton R. Sees, IDOT secretary. "It's also important that drivers buckle up and motorcyclists wear helmets to prevent injury or death."

According to a nationwide study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 60 percent of people killed during a collision involving a vehicle and animal were not wearing a seatbelt, and 65 percent of motorcycle riders and drivers were not wearing a helmet.

tara.fasol@thesouthern.com / 351-5824