BY SHARRON HALEY
Clarendon Contributor
MANNING – Drivers across South Carolina, whether on secondary or interstate roads, should be more vigilant during the fall and winter months for deer crossing roads.
Although drivers should be careful of white-tailed deer crossing the state’s roads throughout the year, the months of October and November are particularly precarious because this is the deer breeding season when the deer naturally increase their movements.
Chief Police Officer David Jones of the South Carolina Highway Patrol said the time shift could also be a contributing factor.
“It is darker in the morning and many of our rural roads have no lighting,” he said. “Drivers need to limit their distractions and drive more slowly.”
Jones also said he did not want the driver’s reaction to seeing a deer on the road to be worse than actually hitting the deer.
“We don’t want them to swerve and take the risk of getting off the road,” he added. “Running off the road can become deadly.”
Jones also said that drivers who actually hit something on the road should stop and investigate. Jones said several pedestrians walking on or near the road have been hit and killed in recent months.
“You need to know what you hit,” he said. “It may have been a pedestrian.”
According to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, 45% of deer and vehicle collisions occur during this two-month period, with most collisions occurring near dawn and dusk, when most people are going to the work.
In 2019, SCDNR reported approximately 3,086 deer vehicle collisions. While the number of collisions in South Carolina may seem high, South Carolina’s numbers are drastically lower than the states in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, where between 30,000 and 50,000 deer vehicle collisions are reported each year .
SCDNR offers several tips for defensive driving in densely populated areas of deer.
According to the SCDNR, white-tailed deer are “masters of escaping predators”, which also contributes to their tendency to flee from wooded areas and the sides of the road for oncoming traffic. When a driver sees a deer in front of the vehicle, slow down, sound the vehicle’s horn several times and, if there is no traffic in the opposite direction, activate the vehicle’s headlights.
When a deer is spotted near your vehicle, SCDNR suggests slowing down. Sounding the horn or turning on the lights can startle the deer and make it run down the road.
If a driver sees a deer crossing the road, always predict that another deer may be present, and the driver should not expect the deer to always leave the road.
Statistics show that most collisions between deer and vehicles that result in serious injuries occur when drivers veer to avoid hitting a deer and end up losing control of the vehicle, leaving the road and hitting a tree or ravine. According to SCDNR officials, it is generally better to hit the deer than to risk losing control of the vehicle.
Although road signs that designate a deer crossing are useful, they do not mark specific deer trails, and drivers should be aware that the deer may be crossing the road for several kilometers around the signal location. Other areas where deer can shoot on the road are in and around the bottom of streams and where agricultural fields meet wooded areas.
SCDNR reported that rural and secondary roads rank highest in deer vehicle collisions because of frequent curves and narrow shoulders.