It’s peak season for car-deer crashes

manslaughter in the Feb. 8 death of a 61-year-old Magnolia-area woman in Carroll County. The younger woman swerved into oncoming traffic to avoid a deer, according to a statement from the Carroll County prosecutor’s office, and her vehicle struck one driven by the older woman, who later died.

Although deer-car crashes happen yearround, this is the peak season, said Scott Peters, wildlife management supervisor for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Wildlife.

“It’s rutting season,” he said. “Getting into late October and into the first two weeks of November, that is prime deer breeding time. The deer are just starting to move.”

The statewide total of 11,581 in the first 10 months of the year was down 9 percent from last year’s 12,795.

Last year, Stark County led the state with 501 deer-related crashes in November, according to the Ohio Department of Insurance.

Shirkey said deer are more likely to be on the move — and in the road in the path of traffic — between 6 and 8 a.m. and between 6 and 8 p.m. He recommended that drivers be extra vigilant during those periods.

Ohio had 2,670 deer-vehicle crashes in September and October, according to Department of Public Safety data. That was down 30 percent from 3,797 in the same period last year.