It’s that time of year to look for deer. And in Michigan, your likelihood of bumper meeting antler has gone up. According to State Farm Insurance, Michigan is the fourth highest state for the car-deer crashes, up from fifth last year. Using its claims data and state licensed driver counts from the Federal Highway Administration, the nation’s leading auto insurer calculates the chances of a Michigan motorist striking a deer over the next 12 months at 1 in 72, compared with 1 in 83 the year before. For the sixth year in a row, West Virginia tops the list of states where an individual driver is most likely to run into a deer, with those odds at 1 in 40. The findings come after a recent report from the Michigan Deer Crash Coalition showing deer crashes in the Great Lakes state actually declined in 2011 from 2010 by about four percent. However, officials note that many crashes also go unreported, so actual crash numbers are much higher. The coalition reports the five counties with the most reported crashes were: Kent (1,750), Oakland (1,736), Jackson (1,536), Calhoun (1,429) and Montcalm (1,340). State Farm’s data shows that more than 18 percent of all deer-vehicle mishaps take place in November.
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