Kansas State University extension agent warns of deer driving dangers

OLATHE, Kan. - It's not a pretty sight when a car hits a deer. But if you can't avoid it, statistics show you're better off running over the animal than swerving to miss.

That is one of several tips for motorists from the Kansas State University Agricultural Extension Office in Olathe as deer mating season shifts into high gear. The office's director says the height of mating season in Kansas is the middle weeks of November. 

With that time fast approaching, Extension Director Dan Lekie said drivers need to be on the lookout and slow down. He warned to be especially cautious near wooded areas. 

Lekie also said if drivers see a deer in the road, they can sometimes get it to move along by sounding their horn or flashing their headlights. 

However, if there is no way to avoid hitting a deer, Lekie said staying in your lane is a better option than swerving to miss the deer. That's because there is a much greater risk of fatality in hitting a tree, the median, a road sign or an oncoming car.  According to Lekle, hitting the deer head-on poses much less of a risk even though it's sure to smash up your car's front end.

According to statistics from 2010, the most recent year for which statistics are available, there were some 9,000 automobile collisions with deer in Kansas.