During deer season, which generally runs from October through December, there is a dramatic increase in the movement of the deer population. Many of these deer find their way onto highways and into suburban neighborhoods. As a result, more deer-vehicle collisions occur in this period than at any other time of year.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) estimates that there are more than 1.5 million deer-vehicle collisions each year, resulting in 150 occupant deaths, tens of thousands of injuries and over $1 billion in vehicle damage.
In 2013, 191 deaths were the result of collisions with animals, with deer being the animal most often struck, according to the IIHS.
One out of 169 drivers will have a claim from hitting a deer, elk or moose in 2015,, about the same as a year earlier. Those odds more than double during October, November and December. Nationally the average cost per claim average is $4,135, up 6 percent from 2014, when it was $3,888.
These claims are most likely in West Virginia, where the odds of such an accident is 1 in 44, 11.4 percent less likely than in 2014, when the odds were 1 in 39. West Virginia has held the top spot for nine years in a row. In Hawaii, the odds are 1 in 8,765, making that state the least likely for the ninth consecutive year.
