JACKSON, Miss– If you’re driving along a Mississippi road you’ll need to be careful for deer. Data from State Farm shows that Mississippians had more wrecks involving deer last year than in years past.
If you’ve ever driven down one of Mississippi’s roads at night during the winter, you’ve seen deer on the side of the road. You slow down, turn on the high beams, and take all necessary steps to make sure you don’t hit one.
State Farm says on average 1 out of 84 drivers in Mississippi could hit a deer. That’s twice as many as the national average. If you do hit a deer, you’re lucky to get away with $4,000 worth of damage to your car, and that’s up about 14% since 2012.
Thankfully, there’s a lot you can do to prevent hitting a deer. Be very careful in areas you know have a lot of deer, use your brightest headlight setting when you can and always buckle up. If you do see a deer, keep calm and don’t swerve. In some cases, you stand a better chance actually hitting the deer than dodging it.
In Mississippi, deer are more active during their mating season which is November, December and January. Don’t assume you won’t see a deer if you live in the city. Chances are, if you see one you’ll see more as deer often travel in packs. You’re most likely to see a deer either at night or early morning.
State Farm data shows there were 175 deaths from deer collisions in 2012. If you slow down, buckle up and keep your eyes peeled, you can reduce that statistic in the future.
