With a chill in the air and that word “snow” creeping into to weather forecasts means we all recognized that November is here and winter is not far behind. In addition to bringing colder weather, and Thanksgiving Turkeys, November in Missouri is known for something else.

Car-deer collisions reach their peak in November. With more than 3,000 crashes every year, drivers throughout the state, drivers should stay alert for deer near all roadways.

A Missouri Department of Conservation official noted that this is because the deer population is on the move, searching for food in anticipation of the winter, and it is also mating season. It is estimated that there are more than 1,000,000 deer in the state, so there are many opportunities for a deer to meet your vehicle virtually anywhere.

The Highway Patrol warns that the most dangerous times are early morning and early evening, near sunrise and sunset. This unfortunately coincides with the times most people are driving to and from work or school.

And to demonstrate that no one is immune from deer collisions, a fire truck from the Logan Rogersville Fire Protection District swerved to avoid striking a deer and the vehicle rolled as a result of the evasive action by the driver.

The driver was wearing his seatbelt and luckily survived the crash without injury. It illustrates the point that it is generally safer to strike the deer than to attempt to drive around it. Deer can be very erratic, and in this case, the driver turned to avoid the deer and in turned the same direction.

While the damage to your vehicle may be expensive, it is far less damaging than what could happen if you swerve into another vehicle in the oncoming lane, roll your vehicle or strike a large, immoveable object like a tree or utility pole.

Ozarksfirst.com, “Fire Truck Wreck Reminds Drivers to Look for Deer,” Laura Kennedy, November 1, 2014