Slow down, drive defensively, save money, fuel & a deer's life

A tag is needed to keep a car-killed deer.

A buddy called today, and his spring deer report wasn't good. He was shocked by the carnage on Michigan's highways.

He'd driven from near Cadillac down highway M-115 to US-10, and then east to Bay City, down I-75 to Flint and back, all in one day. What he saw over 300 round-trip miles was sad.

He saw deer. Dead dead. Lots and lots of dead deer & other animals.

"There were dead animals everywhere," he said. "Leaving Cadillac, I began counting carcasses and major bloody pieces of pavement where deer and other critters had been hit. There were an incredible number of flattened deer.

"I saw 67 dead deer, coons, possums, and other critters between Cadillac and the US-10 expressway. Many were nothing but bloody lumps of hair and large blood stains. Some deer were hit, and bounced off to the side of the road, and I'd wager there were more deer and other animals that I didn't see."

He said it was equally bad between the M-115 and the US-10 freeway junction, and I-75 at Bay City. He counted well over 60 deer in that stretch. Some were so destroyed by an impact with an 18-wheeler and other vehicles as to be near unrecognizable except for their size.

"There were deer in the median, dead deer on the shoulders, and in two or three places I had to swerve to avoid dead deer in the road. It seems such a tragic waste, but no one appears to be slowing down.

And therein is the problem. The past several nights have been reasonably warm, and deer come up to graze on grasses and weeds growing alongside the highways. People, in their perpetual rush to go somewhere and get there fast, slam into them without much warning.

Most car-deer crashes come without any warning. One must stay alert.

Car-killed deer often litter road-sides.

A friend that lives in the north delivers newspapers after midnight, seven days a week. He killed three deer during the winter months, and had several near misses. Speed in this case was not the cause. The deer often run down driveways in the dark, and bang into his car.

Normally, the deer die in this uneven contest an easily moved animal being hit by a speeding vehicle. Occasionally, deer hurtle up over the hood and through the front windshield. Every year thousands of car-deer accidents occur, and in some cases, humans get injured or killed in these wrecks.

Spring months are almost as deadly as the autumn when rut-crazed deer cross roads without stopping. There are some basic rules for safe driving if only people will heed this advice.

Gas is too costly to waste by driving fast, and speed kills deer & some people.

• Slow down. Besides saving gasoline, which when last I looked, was $4.15 per gallon, and increasing the miles-per-gallon ratio, also would allow more braking time if a deer jumps in front of the vehicle.
• Those "deer crossing" signs erected along state highways serve a greater purpose than as road ornaments to amuse bored drivers. They are placed in certain locations because it is a well-used deer crossing site. Such areas funnel deer movements, and the animals can quickly jump out in front of a vehicle without warning.
• Newly growing grasses and weeds attract feeding deer. Areas where salt has been used also attract deer to road edges. Does, soon to drop this year's fawns, frequent roadsides at night.
• Speed Kills means more than running head-on into another vehicle. Too much speed, and a collision with a deer, is due cause for many accidents and injuries every year. In some cases, the vehicle doesn't have to hit the deer. The driver swerves, misses the animal, and loses control, rolls over, hits a tree or nose-dives into a ditch. All can be hazardous to your health.
• Driving defensively applies as much to deer as it does to watching for stupid drivers who drive too fast, swerve in and out of traffic, and who pay little attention to traffic and road signs. To drive defensively in deer country (which now covers the entire state including the Detroit area) means slowing down, using caution, looking ahead and to both sides of the road for deer eyes that are reflected in the headlights. If one deer crosses the road in front of you, slow down because there often are others coming behind, and beware of the deer that stands transfixed in the headlights. That deer is confused, and may run in any direction.
• Dawn and dusk are key times for high deer movement. However, many deer are hit in broad daylight as well. The defensive driving suggestion applies to daylight hours as well as during the evening.
• Some drivers believe in those little deer whistles that mount on the vehicle's grille. Do they work? It depends on who you talk to, but I don't use them but that doesn't mean you shouldn't.

Follow these tips when driving in deer country.

Car-deer accidents are a fact of life in this and many other states with high deer numbers. Not only is killing the deer a terrible waste (except for feeding crows, eagles and other scavengers), it is very costly. Car insurance rates are high enough without smashing up a vehicle by hitting a deer.

Highway carnage is a problem every year when one or two tons of vehicle meets 100 or more pounds of deer. The impact is predictable in most cases: the deer dies, the vehicle gets busted up, insurance companies whine and raise their rates, and if humans are lucky, no one gets injured or dies in the crash.

Slow down and take it easy in deer country. The life you save may be your own.