Michigan's deer populations are on the move right now more than any other time of the year. With deer firearm hunting season now underway, drivers should pay extra attention while they’re out on the road.
In 2024 there were more than 58,000 vehicle-deer collisions in Michigan. Vehicle-deer collisions can cause serious damage to vehicles, injuries to people and even kill people.
“We’ve seen.deer come through windshields,” said Andy Daenzer, field services captain at the Ingham County Sheriff's Office. “It can lead to serious injuries and we’ve seen bigger problems than just vehicle damage.”
According to the Michigan United Conservation Clubs, November was the worst month for vehicle-deer collisions in 2023 with 11,145 total reported crashes. Most of the crashes happened between the hours of 6-9 a.m.
Kent County saw the greatest number of collisions at 2,171. Jackson placed fifth with 1,521 and Clinton at tenth with 1,306 collisions.
Deer are most active during dawn and dusk. The biggest way to reduce the chance of a crash is simply by slowing down, Daenzer said.
“Really scrub that speed down, give yourself more time to react and stay alert at dawn and dusk,” he said.
Give yourself extra stopping distance, don’t tailgate other drivers, he said.
“The worst thing you can have is somebody in front of you really spiking their brakes and then you’re too close and you rear end the person in front of you,” Daenzer said.
It’s important to be extra cautious on roads in wooded areas, near bodies of water and fields, he said.
“If you’re driving in the country which a lot of times is where the deer are, use your high beams to provide better light where you can see the deer quicker,” Daenzer said.
Do not swerve to avoid hitting a deer.
“We encourage hard straight line breaking, scrubbing as much speed as you can rather than swerving,” he said.
Swerving is more dangerous because many times people that swerve to avoid a deer hit a car in the opposite lane or crash into obstructions on the sides of roads.
Daenzer said he also recommends making sure your car is in working order.
Ingham County has a very large deer population due to the prevalence of wooded areas and rural farmland
“It’s kind of a blessing for our deer hunters out there," he said. "We have a large population but we certainly do get a lot of car accidents."