Syracuse.com - Dangerous roads: It's prime time for deer/motor vehicle accidents in Central New York

[HuntingNY-News]

It's a dangerous time of year on many Central New York roads for deer and humans alike as the deer are constantly moving about because it's their breeding season. Experts note about half of all deer/motor vehicle collisions each year occur between the months of October and December.

Randy Tompkins recently stood on his front porch, shaking his head as he looked out upon the front yard of his home on Route 321 in Elbridge at the dead, young buck on the grass.

"Must have been hit by a truck or something," he said. "I checked the road. There was no broken plastic or glass or skid marks. The person just kept going."

"There's just a lot of deer around here lately," he added.

It's a dangerous time of year on many Central New York roads for deer and humans alike as the deer are constantly moving about because it's their breeding season. Experts note about half of all deer/motor vehicle collisions each year occur between the months of October and December.

There are steps drivers can take to keep such accidents to a minimum, such as being careful when driving around dusk and dawn, watching your speed and keeping your high beams on whenever possible. However, with the steadily rising populations in many areas, deer/motor vehicle accidents are just a fact of life here.

Chris McKane, of Locke, who drives a truck that picks up milk and delivers it to processing plants in the middle of the night, says he's lost track of how many deer he's hit during the past decade.

"At least 10," he said, noting there wasn't much he could have done in each case.

"People who say they could have been avoided don't know how unpredictable deer can be," he said. "They'll be walking on the shoulder of the road, and then suddenly turn and decide they want to cross the road. I've given up on swerving. I'm not about to swerve a 100,000-pound truck to avoid a 200-pound deer."

Read more stories of Central New York drivers who've hit deer multiple times.

The Insurance Information Institute notes that the average cost per insurance claim for deer collision damage is $2,800, with costs varying depending on the type of vehicle and the seriousness of the damage. If one considers auto claims that involve bodily injury, the average rises to $10,000.

Brian Underwood, a wildlife biologist with U.S. Geology Survey who teaches at SUNY ESF, has done extensive research on deer behavior and deer/motor vehicle accidents.

"The rut (the breeding season) increases deer activity and movement this time of year by 2 ÃÂý times," he said. He said the bucks, filled with hormones, are moving about, trying to impregnate as many does as possible.

"The females are only receptive during a 24-hour period (when they're ovulating) and they do that every 23 days," he said. "Apart from that, they won't stand for a buck trying to breed with them. What happens is the males end up harassing the does. Those does that aren't interested are running away - and being followed by the bucks. It's a real free-for-all."

Another factor is that both males and females are eating as much as possible and bulking up, adding fat to help get them through the winter. That translates again into movement, often across roads. They're moving daily from dense areas where they bed to areas such as cornfields and fields of other plants where they eat, Underwood said.

Some point to deer hunters, noting that they're a major reason deer are scampering about so much. Not so, Underwood said. "Hunters are not going to displace a buck or doe from its home range," he said. "And if they do, they often button-hook right around and come back."

The New York Times reported that during a 10-year span from 2001-11, collisions with animals resulted in 2,083 human fatal crashes nationwide.

A recent report by State Farm Insurance Company, which covers about 20 percent of the state's insured drivers, noted a 12 percent increase in deer/motor vehicle insurance claims across the state from their clients the past five years.

In 2011, the latest figures available, there were 35,159 deer/ motor vehicle accidents in New York State, with four fatalities and 1,311 injuries to drivers, according to Carol Breen, a spokeswoman with the state Department of Transportation. The numbers are based on accident reports from police she said.

Most likely, the actual numbers are higher than what's being reported because many collisions go unreported - either because the collision involved a truck or some large vehicle that didn't stop; or because the damage to the vehicle was minimal and the driver was able to drive away or lacked sufficient coverage to make an insurance claim.

In Onondaga County, the numbers have remained fairly steady the past five years, according to the DOT. In 2011, there were 1,111 accidents, with 38 injuries.

Breen said there has not been a fatality directly related to a deer/motor vehicle accident in Onondaga County since the state started keeping such statistics in 1987. This year, though, there have been two local fatalities - both in Madison County and both involving motorcyclists.

Cyle Chesebro, 49, of West Edmeston, was killed Aug. 11 in the town of Brookfield when a deer hit by an oncoming car was flung up in the air and caused Chesebro to crash as he was riding in the opposite lane.

On Sept. 4, Daniel Gorman, 60, of Oriskany Falls, was driving on State Route 20 in the town of Eaton when his cycle collided with a deer that was crossing the road.

Sarah Nystrom, a master's student at SUNY ESF, under Underwood's supervision, visited 562 deer/motor vehicle accidents in Onondaga County during 2005-2006, measuring habitat and other features on both sides of the road, along with recording the time of day and time of year when the accidents occurred.

Her research showed that no areas were immune to such accidents (except for heavily populated urban areas), but that clusters occurred in three distinct parts of the county. Those areas were: the Howlett Hill Road corridor in Marcellus, the Route 92-Oran Delphi Road area in Manlius and Route 48 and Lamson Road in Lysander.

Nystrolm also determined that certain natural and man-made features on both sides of the road seemed to figure in, such as when there's heavy vegetation or forests near one of both sides.

Underwood said accidents in those three areas weren't all caused by the same factors, but that all were "high traffic volume areas" through good deer habitat.

Underwood noted additional research has raised additional questions.

"We've put some GPS radio collars on some deer. Some cross the road all the time. Some never do, even though their home range is right next to it," he said. "It's very interesting stuff. We have a lot to learn."

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog