Car vs. Deer: Walker, Lake Roads Top the Hit List

With a burgeoning deer count in Avon Lake, it’s no surprise that a deer is occasionally going to come into contact with a vehicle, and vice versa.

In 2011 so far, 28 incidents were reported to the resulting in 27 accidents. Of those reported, one deer was struck twice as it was crossing and another incident involved a driver running off the road trying to avoid a deer, which was not hit.

Walker and Lake roads had the most accidents, with 10 collisions on Walker Road and seven on Lake Road. Five incidents were on Avon Belden Road (SR 83), one on Miller Road, one on Krebs (deer not struck) and two each on Moore and Lear roads. November was the busiest month, with five accidents reported.

Not all accidents involved vehicles striking deer. In six of the instances, deer struck the cars.

Earlier this month, a police cruiser struck a deer causing major damage to the vehicle. The cruiser's dash cam was running, and the incident was caught on tape. Avon Lake Patch is including the video to show readers what it's like when a deer collides with a vehicle. (We'll have the video and story later.)

Councilwoman Jennifer Fenderbosch, who heads the city’s Environmental Committee, said based on the speed limits and city size, there shouldn’t be any collisions.

“Car and deer encounters when the speed limit is 25 or 35 miles an hour is another statistic that indicates an over population,” Fenderbosch said. “We should not be having any deer car collisions at these low speed levels.”

Scott Peters, wildlife management assistant supervisor for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said that while deer are most active in the immediate hours before and after sunset and again near sunrise, they can be active anytime of the day or night. He offered this advice for drivers when it became clear a vehicle you’re driving was going to hit a deer.

“In the event of an unavoidable collision with a deer, it is safer to hit the deer rather than to swerve off the road or into oncoming traffic,” Peters said. Most personal injury occurs when the driver attempts to avoid the deer.

Here's the breakdown of when and where the accidents occurred.

 

Jan. 9
586 Moore
Driver southbound on Moore hit deer then it was hit again by northbound driver. Jan. 18
Lake Rd 100ft East of Aqua Marine Blvd Driver westbound on Lake Rd hit northbound deer. Feb. 26
Walker 20' W. of Waterside Driver eastbound on Walker was hit by southbound deer. Feb. 26
Walker & Long Pointe Driver eastbound on Walker hit a southbound deer. Feb. 27
Avon Belden 500' N. of Webber Driver northbound on Avon Belden hit a eastbound deer. March 2
Walker Rd 200' E. of Windward Driver westbound on Walker hit northbound deer. April 1
575 Lear
Driver northbound on Lear Rd hit westbound deer. April 6
32545 Lake Driver eastbound on Lake Rd hit southbound deer. April 29
Walker 100ft W. of Anchors Weigh Driver westbound on Walker Rd hit southbound deer. May 28
Krebs near 31770 Krebs Driver eastbound on Krebs ran off the road into a ditch to avoid a deer in roadway. June 5
33570 Lake Rd Driver eastbound on Lake Rd was hit by southbound deer. June 6
Lake & Avondale
Driver westbound on Lake Rd hit southbound deer. June 13
Lear 20' N. of Country Club Driver southbound on Lear was hit by westbound deer. June 17
Lake & Herrmann Driver eastbound on Lake was hit by southbound deer. July 19
100' S. of 659 Miller
Driver northbound on Miller Rd was hit by an eastbound deer. Sept. 13
SR 83 just South of Webber
Driver northbound on SR 83 was hit by an eastbound deer just south of Webber. Sept. 27
33250 Walker
Driver westbound on Walker Rd hit southbound deer. Oct. 13
31972 Walker Driver westbound on Walker Rd hit deer in roadway. Oct. 17
32520 Lake
Driver westbound on Lake Rd hit southbound deer. Oct. 23
663 Avon Belden
Driver northbound on Avon Belden hit deer in roadway. Oct. 25
31621 Walker
Driver westbound on Walker Rd hit deer in roadway. Oct. 25
Walker Rd 300' W. of Bridgeside
Driver westbound on Walker Rd hit by deer on passenger side. Nov. 3
268 Avon Belden
Driver southbound on Avon Belden hit deer in roadway. Nov. 4
31830 Lake
Driver westbound on Lake Rd hit northbound deer. Nov. 7
32179 Walker
Driver eastbound on Walker Rd hit southbound deer. No. 10
Walker & Long Cove Driver westbound on Walker Rd hit deer in roadway. Nov. 16
366 Avon Belden Driver northbound on Avon Belden hit deer entering roadway.