Raise your hand if you’ve had this happen. You’re driving down a rural road and a deer comes out of nowhere and runs across the road right in front of you. What do you do? Should you slam on the brakes and hope for the best, or swerve off the road to avoid the deer?
I’ll give you the same advice that the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources endorses, and the same recommendation I have given to my wife, Jane: Hit the deer. Some of the most serious injuries related to deer-vehicle collisions result from drivers swerving to avoid the deer and end up hitting a tree or some other unmovable object. That never ends well.
The best strategy is to train yourself to be vigilant for deer crossing the road, especially in October and November, the breeding season. During that critical period, Jane and I play a little game. Who will be the first to spot a deer? Jane takes one side of road, and I scan the other. After dark, we look for blue eyes. Deer have a reflective layer of receptors in their eyes (the tapetum lucidum (tah-PEE-dum lew-CID-um) that greatly increases their night vision and causes their eyes to appear blue in the bright light of car headlights.
Whitetail deer are crepuscular, which means they are most active at dusk and dawn. So, be especially on alert during those peak hours. There are typically two scenarios for deer-vehicle collisions: one or more deer come running out of the woods and the timing is such that a collision is unavoidable, or the deer are in the road some distance ahead of you and you have time to take evasive action.
In the first scenario, you’re destined to hit the deer, but do not slam on the brakes, which can send you into a skid, making the situation worse. Pump the brakes to slow down.
In the second scenario, (especially at night), it’s important to understand what is going on. In the dark, the deer’s eyes are fully dilated, and vehicle headlights literally blind them. That’s what accounts for the proverbial “deer in the headlights” effect. The deer’s natural reaction is to freeze in place. Honking the horn or flashing your lights may help, but the key is to slow down without locking down your brakes. Also, be aware there may be other deer still in the woods about to cross the road.
A friend of mine once asked me, “How do they get the deer to cross the road where those “deer crossing” signs are? The correct answer is that those deer-crossing signs are located at certain points along rural roads, because that stretch of road has a history of deer-vehicle collisions. Pay attention to those signs, they are there for your benefit.
With more people living in rural housing developments, the number of deer-vehicle collisions is on the rise, despite the fact that the deer population in South Carolina is in decline. In an average year, there are between 2,500-3,000 deer-vehicle collisions. Last year that number spiked to 6,000. Stay alert and don’t become a part of that statistic.
Dennis Chastain is a Pickens County naturalist, historian and former tour guide. He has been writing feature articles for South Carolina Wildlife magazine and other outdoor publications since 1989.
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