Deer crashes break record even before peak season
Staff writer
With rutting season not expected to peak for another two to three weeks, deer accidents in Marion County already have set a record.
Eight new accidents reported this week pushed the total number of deer strikes in the past 12 months to 159, up 12.8% over the previous 12-month period.
That’s one deer strike every 2¼ days — a rate 21.4% higher than it was just three years ago.
Mating season, known as rutting, typically adds as many as 40 additional crashes to the total. Rutting typically peaks in mid-November but can continue into Decembers.
Many accidents cause only minor damage — like one Thursday on US-56/77 south of 250th Rd. involving a 2015 Toyota Prius driven by Robert C. Vinduska of Lincolnville. But others can be more severe.
A 2019 Ford Fusion driven by a Hutchinson teen was listed as destroyed in a deer strike Friday on US-56 east of Timber Rd.
Few serious injuries have been reported in Marion County. Most involve injuries suffered when vehicle air bags deploy.
Statewide, however, seven people were killed and 658 others were injured in deer crashes in 2023.
Accidents typically happen around dusk and dawn but can happen anytime of the day or night. Friday’s accident, for example, occurred in broad daylight at 10:50 a.m.
Deer strikes now account for 41.7% of all traffic accidents investigated by police and sheriff’s deputies in Marion County, according to a Record analysis of accident reports.
That’s considerably above the statewide average of 35%.
Accidents involving injury or $1,000 or more in damage must be reported promptly to law enforcement agencies.
With the high cost of auto repairs, most deer strikes cause at least that much damage.
Nationwide, according to State Farm Insurance, deer strikes caused an estimated $2.1 million in damage in the most recent year for which data were available.
Safety experts warn that drivers should not swerve to try to avoid hitting deer. While damage from hitting an animal the size of a deer may be considerable, it often is much less than could occur by veering off the road or into other traffic and striking a much larger or faster moving object.
Using high-beam headlights when no other traffic is present can help drivers detect deer in time to slow down and avoid collisions.
Drivers also should be aware that deer rarely travel alone. Drivers often avoid a single animal only to find that another bolts our without being noticed.
Deer are most likely to emerge from wooded areas and green spaces, especially those close to water sources like streams and ponds, but can appear anywhere, even within towns.
Kansas is home to about 700,000 deer. Although popular perception is that the state’s deer population has been growing, it actually is down slightly from its peak 24 years ago.