LUCAS COUNTY, Ohio — The Ohio State Highway Patrol is urging motorists to keep in mind that it is fall breeding season for deer. That also means it's peak season for deer-related crashes.
Deer are extremely hard to locate when you're driving at dawn or dusk.
So far this year, there have been 21 deer-related crashes just in Lucas County. Wood County has seen more deer-related crashes this year with 163 since January.
At least 50 deer-related crashes have happened in each Ohio county with Hancock County seeing some of the most.
Overall in Ohio, there have been more than 11,000 this year. The routes with the most deer-related crashes were I-71 and I-75, State Route 2 and U.S. 30 and U.S. 33.
Over the past five years, there have been more than 100,000 crashes on Ohio roadways involving a deer. While 95 percent of these crashes only resulted in property damage, 29 resulted in fatalities, killing 31 people. Almost half of these crashes happened in October, November and December.
Sgt. Ryan Purpura with the Ohio State Highway Patrol explained while no one wants to hit a deer, it's best to not swerve out of the way for the animal, either. He said just firmly brake and stay in your lane.
"Don't swerve because oftentimes if you do swerve, you'll end up in a worse crash and maybe cause injuries or hit something else or run off the roadway," he said. "So, with a deer it's best to stay in your lane and just try to do what you can to minimize striking a deer, but it might not be possible."
Sgt. Purpura explained around this time of year when you see a deer, you'll more than likely see another one, so keep your eyes pealed.
"Rut started up, so the deer can be really active. Oftentimes, if you do see a deer run out in front of you, there's a good chance there's a deer behind it," he explained. "So, it's good if you do see one deer to start slowing, look around, look for that second or multiple deer coming behind that first one."
If you do end up hitting a deer, Sgt. Purpura said do your best to get as far away from the roadway as you can, turn on your hazards and call 911.
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