Shreveport , LA: Driver of car did hit a utility pole and rollover into a ditch between Deer versus vehicle collision on Friday , December 12th 2014

A Shreveport driver's close encounter with a deer that ended with a wreck early Friday morning serves as a unfortunate reminder of the reasons swerving to avoid wildlife on the road might not always be the best maneuver.

No one was hurt in Friday's wreck, but the man's car did hit a utility pole and rollover into a ditch.

Cars and deer can be a lethal combination. More than a million crashes a year involve a deer and a vehicle in this country, according to insurance and government figures. Such wrecks not only add up to $4 billion in damages every year, but also claim several hundred lives.

Crashes like the one at West 70th Street at Glen Leaf Road in West Shreveport early Friday morning are all too common this time of year, when drivers often swerve to avoid hitting deer in the road. Deer migration and mating season generally run from October through December, and cause a dramatic increase in such crashes, killing an average of 200 Americans a year.

Louisiana State Police spokesman Matt Harris cautioned, "If a driver is confident with their ability to maneuver around a deer without hitting it and not, you know, suffering a vehicle crash, then you know, do the best you can in that scenario. Every scenario's different."

But there are certain situations that are described as simply unavoidable: "That's when you have to make the choice, am I going to crash my vehicle and risk seriously injuring or killing myself or am I going to just slow down as much as I can but have to take the crash," added Harris.

When you hit a deer it usually wipes out the grill and fender of your vehicle. And the impact can sometimes send a deer through a vehicle's windshield. "They can, I've had reports that they can come through and they continue kicking, once they are inside the cars," explained Steve Adcock, with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife.

source :
Deer versus vehicle collisions spike in early Winter