COLUMBUS, Ohio – The roads were a little safer for Ohio’s deer last year, but an insurance industry group says there were still more than 20,000 crashes involving deer and vehicles and the number increased dramatically around Columbus..
The 20,201 deer-vehicle crashes in 2013 was a 3.8 percent reduction from the 20,999 reported crashes in 2012 and an 11 percent decline from 2011, according to the Ohio Insurance Institute, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Department of Public Safety and the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
However, the number of crashes in Franklin County jumped 15.5 percent, to 379 from 367. Delaware County saw the most deer-vehicle collisions in central Ohio in 2013 with 415. Stark County (568) was number one in the state. Monroe County (8) recorded the fewest.
The OII and the state are reminding motorists that October through January is the peak season for deer-vehicle crashes because it is also the peak of deer mating season.
Last November there were 4,513 crashes, highest number of any month of the year, according to the institute.
Eight of the crashes last year were fatal to humans, according to the Department of Public Safety, compared with six fatalities and 1,014 injuries reported in 2012. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety estimates about 200 people are killed every year in deer-vehicle collisions.
The departments of Public Safety and Natural Resources say dawn and dusk are the most dangerous times of day for deer-related collisions. In 2013, over 53 percent of these crashes occurred between 5:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. and 23 percent happened between 5:00 and 8:00 a.m.