What to know about increasing number of deer-vehicle collisions in Pennsylvania
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Scott LaMar
Airdate: December 05, 2022
Pennsylvania motorists have a one-in-57 chance of being involved in a crash with an animal – that’s according to State Farm Insurance. That puts Pennsylvania sixth in the country for animal related crashes.
The animal crashes that usually cost the most to repair and are most dangerous are with deer. There were 5,700 deer-vehicle collisions in Pennsylvania in 2021, resulting in 1,255 injuries and 13 fatalities.
How can these crashes be avoided and what to do if you do hit a deer?
On The Spark Monday, Lt. Adam Reed, Director of the Communications Office for the Pennsylvania State Police, had a few tips for avoiding a collision with a deer,”First and foremost, slow down a little bit, especially if it’s around this time of year. Perhaps if you’re on your morning commute and a stretch of interstate or a stretch of roadway that is prone to deer — there’s a deer crossing sign. Slow down even more. Do your best to kind of scan the sides of the road to watch for any deer that might be standing along there. And use your high beams whenever possible. And certainly buckle up. And if you do find yourself in a crash with the deer. Having your seat belt on is going to lessen your chances of being injured.”
Lt. Reed added that swerving to and braking hard are not the best ways to avoid hitting a deer,”One of the instincts I think many drivers have is they see something in front of them on the road is swerving with deer. So, in a case like this where a crash with a deer looks imminent, do your best not to swerve. I know it’s not your natural instinct, but if you let off the brake and don’t swerve, that’s really going to lessen the chances of the deer coming through your windshield or causing further damage to the car. f gentle. When that break to do your best to avoid that collision.”
Also on The Spark was Pennsylvania’s Acting Insurance Commissioner Michael Humphreys who said motorists should have comprehensive insurance to cover the cost of repairs that has a deductible they can afford if there’s a collision with a deer. He mentioned that insurance premiums don’t rise for the most part after a crash with a deer,”Pennsylvania statute does not allow a comprehensive to be surcharged under our law. So that’s a deer or any other animals or fowl. None of these types of accidents are what we would call cert chargeable under your policy. Now, that’s important to note that that’s with your existing company. If you were to change carriers in the future, the new carrier can look at your accident history, including this accident that your current carrier can’t hold against you. But we obviously would still encourage you to look and shop your policy when you have that opportunity, because different carriers use different factors when they’re evaluating you for a premium.”
