White-tailed Deer vs. Your Car

Illustration by Shawneen Finnegan

It's 5:00 p.m. on a November evening, and you're hurrying home from work as dusk fades into night. Turning onto a county road, you read for the first time a sign you have passed a thousand times before. You see these signs everywhere and hardly notice them, but this time the words below the yellow diamond with the leaping deer make you chuckle: "HEAVY DEER AREA." Hmm. Deer that need Weight-Watchers. Must be the ones raiding your garden.

Then suddenly there's a real deer in front of you and you brake and wait as the doe bounds up the embankment on the other side of the road, and you are just slightly smug because you know enough to wait some more. Behind the doe trails the expected buck, his nose down and brain oblivious to the headlights reflecting in his eyes. Welcome to New Jersey, crossroads for bird migration and for white-tailed deer.

Deer on the Road

Most people enjoy seeing a deer now and then, even if the animals make unprotected beds of annuals unrealistic. However, the threat of a deer-car collision is a problem to be taken seriously. A "heavy" deer might weigh over 200 pounds on the hoof, and even an eighty-pound yearling is capable of totaling a vehicle traveling at high speed. Over 10,000 such collisions occur each year in New Jersey, and in the year 2000 two of these crashes resulted in human fatalities.

There is some disagreement as to exactly how many New Jersey deer are around to jump in front of cars, but there are certainly a lot of them. The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife estimates that 178,000 deer roam the state. In the top deer counties of Hunterdon, Warren, Sussex, Somerset, and Morris, deer densities surpass fifty per square mile. Drivers anywhere in the state, except possibly in extremely urbanized areas in the northeastern counties, must add white-tailed deer to their mental list of road hazards, and take them just as seriously as potholes, bicyclists, or drivers using cell phones.

Even if you don't hit a deer, a deer may hit you. Deer seem confused by the speed of oncoming cars, and may run right into them when they try to dash across in front. Many drivers can tell stories of being "blind-sided" by deer.

Timing and Seasonality of Deer-Car Collisions

A biologist would say that deer are crepuscular animals, leaning towards nocturnal. In other words, they move most beginning at dusk, continue to be more or less active through the night, and become less active after sunrise. This does not mean one will never run in front of you on a sunny July afternoon, but the most dangerous hours are the ones just before full darkness and the one after the first pink light of dawn. At these times, deer move between where they fed at night and where they will bed for the day. Unfortunately, these are also the times when most people are commuting to and from work.

Deer movement in full darkness seems variable-some nights they seem to be everywhere on the road, and other times not a deer will appear. Movement in general can be affected by moon phase and approaching weather, with deer more active during a full moon and before an approaching storm.

Without question, the peak month of deer movement and deer-car collisions is November. This is the season of the "rut," when bucks travel widely in search of does to breed with, and pursue them vigorously once found. A second minor peak happens in late May and early June, when does drive away their fawns from the previous year in preparation for the year's crop of newborns.

Remember Where You See Deer

People are creatures of habit, and so are deer. You drive to and from work, or to and from your kids' school, on the same roads day after day. Deer also tend to stick to certain major travel corridors, which they adjust seasonally to match their movements to food availability and other habitat needs.

Use this knowledge to your advantage, because it is a key to your deer-avoidance strategy. Undoubtedly, there are places along your daily travel route where you routinely see deer. These are places where your travel patterns and those of the local deer herd overlap. File each deer sighting away in the back of your mind. It may seem obvious, but be especially alert for deer crossing the road in places where you have seen them in the past.

Assume One Will Be Followed by Another, or Two, or Ten

Deer are herd animals. In early summer, a doe's fawns will be nearby. From late summer through the following spring, does and yearlings travel in groups of five or more, sometimes many more in winter months.

Similarly, bucks will form "bachelor groups" in spring, banding together until the breeding season begins in late October. Bucks tend to be loners, or in the company of only a single doe, during October and November. Even then, if a buck chases a doe across the road in front of you, the presence of an additional buck following the pair is a distinct possibility that should be watched for.

Driving Skills in Deer Country

If any of the factors mentioned above point to the probability of a deer encounter, change the way you drive. First of all, slow down, since you will need all the reaction time you can get if a deer leaps in front of you. Forget how you were taught to watch the road and make a point of scanning the roadsides. Watch for deer and watch for their eyeshine in your headlights, which will only be visible if the deer looks directly at your car. If it is dark, use your high beams whenever there is no oncoming vehicle, unless it is foggy, when low beams will allow you to see better.

If you see and successfully avoid deer, flash your lights at oncoming vehicles to warn them of the hazard. Conversely, watch the behavior of other vehicles. If a car slows suddenly for no apparent reason, that could mean the driver saw a deer or other animal on or near the road.

Keeping your car well-maintained is an important part of avoiding deer. Be sure your headlights and brakes work perfectly and that your tires are in good shape. You may want to consider one of the products that, when mounted on a car, are said to emit a high-frequency noise that will warn animals of your approach. One such is called the Sav-A-Life Animal Warning Device. Such devices may help, but definitely do not guarantee worry-free driving in deer country.

If You Do Hit a Deer

Even if the collision seemed minor, keep your priorities straight and make sure you, your passengers, and your vehicle are safe. Call 911 if anyone is hurt or if your vehicle can't be driven.

Although they appear delicate, deer are remarkably tough animals, so do not be surprised if a car-grazed deer disappears into the woods. Such an animal may in fact recover from its injuries. If the deer is down along the road, but not dead, a police officer can dispatch it with his service weapon. If you or a passerby is so inclined, the officer can also issue a tag allowing salvage of the deer for venison.

Hitting a deer is a traumatic experience. If it happens to you, know first of all that you did everything possible to avoid the accident, and that many others have had similar misfortune. Consider that, in a sense, your vehicle just acted out the part of a predator. The deer's death leaves an opening in the habitat for another, helping to reduce overpopulation. If the carcass is not salvaged by a human, it will certainly be a welcome dietary addition for vultures, foxes, raccoons, and myriad other natural scavengers.