Last night Mrs. S drove past a deer that had just been hit and killed on a county road outside of town by St. Stephen. An hour before a friend had shared with me his story of wiping out doing $10k of damage his brand new Subaru Hyundai in a deer accident on I-94 near the St. Augusta exit. He sent along this article on the frequency of deer accidents.

This time of year, through December, is prime time for collisions with deer. That's because it's mating season, and deer are more active.

In the past 10 years, Minnesota has averaged about 5,100 vehicle-deer collisions each year (probably low since many such crashes are never reported), of which nearly 400 annually result in injuries. Since 1995, more than 30 people have been killed in Minnesota in car-deer collisions.

"I feel all funny. I see bright lights! I think I'm in love! No, wait, it's a car." (With apologies to Old Man Simpson.) To quote Sgt. Esterhaus as well, let's be careful out there today, OK?

UPDATE: My friend filled in a couple of details, changes crossed out and noted.

Labels: Minnesota, St. Cloud