00:00A deer in your lane can leave you seconds to react.
00:03AAA Northeast says deer are more active during fall mating season, also called the rut,
00:09increasing the chance of one crossing your path, especially at dawn and dusk.
00:14It really peaks in the end of October, but November is really the month.
00:19The deer get very, very skittish.
00:21They start engaging in bad behavior, unpredictable behavior, especially running out into a road.
00:30Shorter days mean less daylight during commutes.
00:32Low light and sun glare can make deer harder to spot, and the danger extends beyond the Northeast.
00:38You can run into deer anywhere, urban, rural, it doesn't matter.
00:43According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
00:45more than one and a half million crashes nationwide involved live animals from 2020 through 2024.
00:53948 were deadly.
00:55More than 40% of all those animal-related crashes happened between September and December,
01:01and your reaction matters.
01:03In New Jersey, AAA's analysis found a higher injury rate when drivers swerved and hit another vehicle
01:09or object than when they collided with the deer directly.
01:13Don't swerve.
01:14That is the most important piece of advice that drivers have to understand.
01:19Because if you swerve, you can go off the road, you can hit a pole, you can hit a tree,
01:24you can hit another vehicle.
01:26AAA says it's important to always obey speed limits and scan the shoulders of the road to give yourself enough
01:31time to react.
01:33For AccuWeather, I'm Heather Fordham.
Comments