According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that there are more than 1.5 million car crashes in the United States that involve deer or large animals. 

From October through December (Deer Season), there are more deer-caused car accidents than any other time of year.  Therefore, you should be very careful when driving near deer or animal crossing signs.

From the middle of fall until the beginning of winter, you must be on the lookout for deer on the roadways. 

Be especially cautious from dusk until dawn, the time wild animals are most likely to venture out in the roadways.  Also, animals tend not to travel alone.  So if you see one, it would be wise to be on the lookout for others.

7 Tips to Avoid a Car Accident

If you should ever find yourself in the unenviable position of staring down a deer in the headlights:

1.  Try to avoid hitting the animal. While this is obvious, you should know that while hitting the animal could kill it, you are also in danger.  Your car could be severely damaged, but people have also died in car accidents with animals.

2.  Turn off your headlights. Once the lights go off, there is a chance that you can snap the animal out of its “deer in the headlights” trance.  If it hears your car coming before impact, it may find it safer to run away.

3.  Try not to hit straight-on. If you can hit an animal at an angle, there is a greater chance that it will spin away from the path of your car after impact.  Antlers are very sharp and could impale you.

4.  Slow down as much as you possibly can as you approach it. This will give the animal an extra moment to hopefully leave the road and lessen the resulting car accident.

5.  Remain in the same lane. This is how people get into car accidents with other cars.  You must be careful not to make a bad situation worse.

6.  Speed up at the last possible moment. While this seemingly conflicts with the above tip (to slow down), speeding up at the last moment will help an imminent impact.  By braking, the car’s inertia pushes the front bumper of your car downward, making it likely that the deer will roll over the car and put your life in extreme danger.  By speeding up at the last moment, your car’s front end will pull up and reduce the chances of the animal flipping over the top of the car.

7.  Never touch an animal after the accident. A frightened or wounded animal can be extremely dangerous.  You should contact the police if the animal is dead or unable to move from the roadway.

Call Us Now to Maximize Your Auto Accident Settlement

The only thing you can do is make sure that you are paying attention to the road and scanning your eyes back and forth. 

If you maintain a safe speed, you will increase your chances of avoiding a car accident with a deer.  Sometimes, though there is absolutely nothing that you can do to avoid it.

Millions of people get into car accidents with deer and other large animals each year. 

If that happens to you, call (858) 551-2090 now for a FREE consultation with an experienced auto accident attorney in San Diego.  You may also click here to submit your case for a FREE online review.

We consider several key factors in these animal-crossing auto accidents.  First, we determine how well-lit the street was, and then we employ a car accident reconstructionist to determine what exactly happened.  

For instance, did the deer quickly jump in front of a moving car or was it there for a short period of time before being struck?  Our attorneys are very thorough.

Since 1992, our San Diego law firm has been dedicated to auto accident claims, and we look forward to providing good advice to help you make smart decisions about your case.