December 2, 2002
Lee County --The Thanksgiving Holiday travel brought lots of crashes between cars and deer. This is the time of year that deer are moving at night, and car collisions in Georgia are soaring.
The Master Body Works parking lot is full of evidence that deer were active over the holiday weekend. Jack Duren's crew towed in 5 cars Monday that hit deer over the weekend.
Duren said "They are running about the same as last year. About 30 or 35 percent of my business." Duren says it costs an average of 3 thousand dollars when a car hits a deer. And the Department of Natural Resources says they expect another 50 thousand collisions in Georgia this year. That is about the same as last year.
Terry Kile with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said "They get cold, they have to travel long distances to get the food they need. This is the time of the year, so look out. You can hit a deer."
Dougherty County Police say they are busy everyday writing reports after deer car collisions. Sgt. Eric Hermann said "The evening shift is working a lot. It's about an average of 3 or 4 a night." The best way to avoid hitting a deer, slow down, and be aware.
Kile said "Especially for the second deer. Most people see the first deer in the road. But they travel in pairs, so they do not see the second deer coming out of the woods."
Hunters are allowed to kill 12 deer a year now, as the state tries to control the deer population. But for many drivers, they will lower that deer population in a much more expensive way. Hitting one with their car.
State officials say statistics on deer car collisions are mostly estimates, because many of the crashes are never reported.
posted at 4:14 by jimw@walb.com
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