Video: Deer Vehicle Collisions

[bitsontherun e9n6ZAOp]

Things can get to be ugly between deer and drivers during this time of the year.

Deer traveling in herds are responsible for costly repairs and can even be deadly.

Traveling a stretch of Hwy 82 between Columbus and Starkville, or almost anywhere for that matter, often motorists encounter deer.

And after such chance encounter, many have been left with expensive repair bills.

“Anything from a minor headlight bumper damage to, all the way to totaling out a car which will consist of deploying airbags, mechanical damage, body damage,” said Tom Cooper, Bob’s Paint & Auto Body.

And in those collisions where airbags are deployed, the impact of the animal with vehicle front sensors can be an insurance company’s nightmare.

“And when that happens and there are a lot of components, that have to be replaced, and that gets into thousands of dollars. Three, four thousand dollars on an average,” said Cooper.

For one Columbus auto body repair shop, the months of December and January are peak times of the year where a buck or doe crashes into vehicles like this one did on Interstate 20 in Hinds County last month, causing a rollover wreck injuring three people.

When motorist come in contact with a deer, its possible there are others close by…..they usually can be seen in small herds.

“The deer are just numerous. I think Mississippi State may have the, if not the most deer, the top, in the top two or three states in the union now with the amount of deer here,” said Bill Jamieson, MDOT District Engineer.

“Use to be where lot of the deer hits were more rural areas. Now you’re seeing in in neighborhoods, populated highways. So now they’re pretty much anywhere un expectantly. They’re there,” said Cooper.

“You just need to be aware of them as you can and just watch the sides of the road and can and just watch the sides of the road and just be alert,” said Jamieson.

According to a leading insurance company, between 2001 and 2012 there were more than 26,000 deer vehicle collision in Mississippi.