Oh Deer! Montana motorists involved in 17,000 animal collisions

If it hasn't happened to you, you know someone to whom it has.

You're driving down the highway -- or even in town -- minding your own business. It's just a routine day along a route you've driven a hundred times when -- Bam! A deer runs out from the side of the road and in the blink of an eye you're involved in a collision.

Hitting a deer is almost a rite of passage for most Montana drivers. National statistics back that up.

According to data recently compiled by the State Farm Insurance Co., Montana ranks second in the nation for animal collisions among drivers.

"Montana drivers reported more than 17,000 industry claims involving an animal in just one year," the insurance company's report states. "In a state that has more than 806,000 licensed drivers,1 in every 47 drivers have a chance of colliding with an animal while driving."

State Farm's report on was compiled from data collected between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020, and includes claims filed with all major automobile insurance providers across the United States. The only state in which motorists have a greater likelihood of striking an animal is West Virginia, where 1 in every 37 motorists filed a claim.

Nationwide, 1 out of every 116 motorists in the U.S. filed an auto insurance claim due to striking an animal during the 2019 to 2020 time frame.

While the report includes statistics for 41 species of animals, deer are far and away the most common species struck on U.S. roadways. Out of  nearly 2 million animal strikes reported, more than three-quarters (1.56 million) involved colliding with a deer.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety notes that deer-vehicle collisions in the U.S. cause more than 200 fatalities annually.

"Deer migration and mating season generally runs from October through December, and causes a dramatic increase in the movement of the deer population," the institute reports. "As a result, more deer-vehicle collisions occur in this period than at any other time of year, so drivers need to be especially vigilant."

According to the Insurance Information Institute, an increase in urban sprawl and more roads being built through wildlife habitats has contributed to a rise in deer-vehicle collisions.

Rounding out the top five animals involved in crashes last year are dogs (88,440), raccoons (42,539), coyotes (19,668) and turkeys (15,104).

A surprising number of bears (12,561) were involved in collisions, along with cows (9,212), elk (4,964) moose (2,470) and wolves (2,166). Hogs were a frequent road hazard, causing damage in 8,927 collisions, along with 2,312 armadillos, 1,750 bobcats and 813 turtles. One-hundred-forty-six truly unfortunate motorists had the displeasure of striking an ox.

​November is the peak month for collisions with animals, coinciding with the Thanksgiving travel season.

Following West Virginia and Montana, the five states in which motorists were most likely to strike an animal are Pennsylvania (1 in 51), South Dakota (1 in 53), Michigan (1 in 54), Wisconsin (1 in 57) and Iowa (1 in 58)

The states in which drivers are least likely to strike an animal are Hawaii (1 in 649), Nevada (1 in 551), California (1 in 427), Arizona (1 in 416) and Florida (1 in 396).

State Farm noted there were nearly 70,000 fewer animal collision claims during the most recent reporting period when compared with July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019; a drop the company attributes to fewer miles driven during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tips from the Insurance Information Institute, the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety on how to reduce of colliding with an animal on the roadway include the following:

• Drive with extra caution when traveling through animal-crossing zones, in areas known to have a large wildlife population and in areas where roads divide agricultural fields from forestland.
•  Travel at a speed that will allow you to stop in time if a deer comes into the beam cast by your headlights. Give the animal time and room to move off the road – don't try to outrun it. 
• When driving at night, use high-beam headlights when there is no oncoming traffic. The high beams will better illuminate the eyes of any deer on or near the roadway.  If you encounter a deer or other animal, switch your headlights to low beam so the animals are not blinded and will move out of your way. 
• Be especially attentive from sunset to midnight and shortly before or after sunrise. These are the highest-risk times for collisions when animals are on the move and driver visibility is affected.
• Avoid swerving when you see an animal. Brake firmly when you notice an animal in or near your path, but stay in your lane. Many serious crashes occur when drivers swerve to avoid a deer and hit another vehicle or lose control of their cars.
• Even if your car is not the first to collide with an animal, you are still at risk. Multiple car crashes can occur when an animal flies over the vehicle and collides with or lands on another car. An animal  collision may cause a chain reaction where vehicles collide into the car that hit the deer.  Practice defensive driving tactics and be observant of your surroundings while driving.

David Murray is Natural Resources/Agriculture reporter for the Great Falls Tribune. To contact him with comments or story ideas; email dmurray@greatfallstribune.com or call (406) 403-3257. To preserve quality, in-depth journalism in northcentral Montana subscribe to the Great Falls Tribune.