Motor-vehicle crashes involving deer rose to an all-time high in North Carolina in 2008, even as the total number of vehicle crashes and total vehicle miles driven dropped from the previous year. A new study from UNC found that crashes reported to police involving deer last year on roadways in the state increased to 19,693, up from 19,277 in 2007.
While a crash involving a deer can happen at any time, drivers should be particularly careful in the early-morning and early-evening hours. Almost 80 percent of deer-related crashes in 2008 occurred between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Fifty percent of all deer-related crashes occurred in October, November and December.