Deer drivers: Please be careful

COEUR d'ALENE - With an estimated 200,000 whitetail deer living in North Idaho, it's bound to happen this winter: One of them will wind up in front of your car speeding along the highway.

And when they do, bad things tend to happen.

The Idaho Transportation Department reported 1,058 collisions involving large, non-domestic animals in 2009, resulting in more than 90 injuries.

And that's just Idaho.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety estimates there are more than 1.6 million deer-vehicle collisions nationwide each year, resulting in 150 occupant deaths, tens of thousands of injuries and more than $3.6 billion in vehicle damage.

"Deer-vehicle collisions can cause significant damage to vehicles and serious injuries to drivers and passengers," said Darrin Sanger, spokesman for the NW Insurance Council communications director.

Drivers should be especially wary in the coming months.

More deer-vehicle accidents occur between October and December than any other time of the year.

"As the weather gets colder, deer and other wildlife migrate from the mountains and you face greater risk of collisions when they dart across roads and highways," according to a press release from the NW Insurance Council.

Police say the chances of hitting a deer in North Idaho are greater than in other parts of the state because the deer can quickly bound from dense forest onto some of our county roads and state highways. In southern Idaho, terrain is more open and deer are more easily seen.

The area between milepost 13-15 on Interstate 90 on the east side of Coeur d'Alene can be especially risky.

According to traffic reports by the ITD, there were 22 collisions between cars and wildlife in that two-mile stretch from 2005 to 2009.

While a few were on curves and at night, many of the crashes happened on straight stretches of the road in daylight hours when conditions were clear or cloudy.

That's just how quickly a deer can move into the roadway, police say. And when you're traveling 65-70 mph, it's not easy to avoid wildlife.

"Using caution and staying alert can save your life and eliminate the need for costly vehicle repairs," Sanger said.