MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. (WXYZ) — It's peak season for deer-related crashes.
According to the state, deer are most active from April-June and from October- December. That's bad news for your car.
In fact, Michigan ranks No. 3 in the nation for animal collision crashes, according to insurance company State Farm.
I spoke with one driver dealing with the aftermath of hitting a deer now, and also found out what drivers can do to steer clear of deer.
“I was actually going out deer hunting and he got me before I got it," said Michael Golda.
It was a few weeks ago that Golda was hunting when the deer got the better of him.
“So I hit it right here, and it kind of bounced off and rolled into the ditch, and it took off after it did hit," Golda said.
Luckily he has the skills for the fix: he's a master technician with interstate auto care in Madison Heights.
However, not everyone is as fortunate. I asked Golda how much the fixes would likely cost him if he wasn't a mechanic.
“Probably around $1,000," he responded.
But the price tag depends on your car.
“Notice here, on this vehicle we don’t have any sensors on it," said Bill Nalu, the president of Interstate Auto Care. “This would be hundreds of dollars in most deer crashes, fast forward here, newer generation vehicle, we have proximity sensors on the bumpers, we have lane detection avoidance systems on the windshield...we got thousands of dollars of sensors and equipment on there which would lead to thousands of dollars of repairs.”
But even worse than damage to your car is serious injury, or even worse. Deer crashes can be deadly.
“Yes, yup, absolutely," said First Lt. Michael Shaw with Michigan State Police. "So we had 19 fatalities in 2023.”
I reached out to MSP to see what drivers can do to avoid deer crashes.
First, always remember, 'don't veer for deer.'
“A lot of times these car crashes that become fatalities are because somebody swerved to avoid the deer and then ended up hitting another car or losing control or hitting a tree or something like that," Shaw said.
He says deer are usually out between 6-9 a.m. and 6-9 p.m. Deer are creatures of habit and they take the same path with their friends. So if you see a deer crossing sign, be aware and slow down.
“October to December is a big time in Michigan for a couple of reasons, deer are looking for dates, that is the number one reason, two it is hunting season, so there is a lot of hunters that are pushing the deer around, and get them to move a little bit durning those times as well," Shaw said.
And if a deer does pop out in front of your car?
“Apply hard breaking is what you want to do, steady hard breaking," Shaw said. "Don’t pump the breaks or anything just hit the breaks where you can kind of come to a controlled stop."
