As I wrote in my last blog entry, no one will be surprised to learn that
deer cause more crashes in rural Georgia than in the state’s metro
areas. I am a lawyer handling cases of deer causing car accidents, and
so in my blog I have been reviewing statistics on car accidents caused
by deer in Georgia.
While a surprising number of car accidents are caused by deer in the ten
most populous counties in Georgia (which are Henry County, Fulton County,
Gwinnett County, Cherokee County, Chatham County, Clayton County, Cobb
County, DeKalb County, Muscogee County and Richmond County), in general
the rate of car accidents caused by deer is far higher in rural counties,
given that they have fewer drivers and that fewer miles are driven in
those counties.
However, according to data tables published by the Georgia Department of
Transportation, more commonly known as the Georgia DOT, more car crashes
are caused by deer in Henry County than in any other county in the state:
3525 in the seven-year period between 2000 and 2006. The data from
Deer Related Crashes shows that no other county comes even close. Despite that really astonishing
number of car crashes caused by deer, Henry County is at least partially
urban, being located near Atlanta, and it is one of the ten most populated
cities in the state.
Fayette County reported the second largest number of deer collisions in
the state: 3079 car accidents were caused by deer in Fayette County.
Baldwin County, Columbia County, Floyd County, Fulton County, and Gwinnett
County all had more than 2000 car accidents caused by deer. 2340 crashes
were caused by deer in Baldwin County; 2531 Columbia County car accidents
were caused by deer; Floyd County reported 2130 people in deer-related
car crashes; a surprising 2378 people were involved in car wrecks caused
by deer in Fulton County; in another 2662 situations, deer caused car
accidents in Gwinnett County; on Newton County roads, 2088 crashes were
caused by deer.
In that 2000 to 2006 period, another 18 Georgia counties in Georgia had
more than a thousand car accidents that were caused by deer venturing
onto roadways:
Barrow County deer accidents: 1303 Bibb County accidents caused by deer:
1554 Burke County deer-related collisions: 1928 Cherokee County’s
deer collision statistics: 1015 Clarke County deer/car accidents: 1859
Clayton County deer-related car crashes: 1501 Cobb County incidents where
deer caused wrecks: 1086 Columbia County deer and car crash incidents:
2531 DeKalb County deer/crash statistics: 1587 Effingham County car crashes
involving deer: 1575 Hall County car accidents from deer on roadway: 1686
Jackson County deer causing wrecks: 1123 Monroe County deer-involved accidents:
1173 Muscogee County car wrecks where deer were involved: 1562 Putnam
County car wrecks due to deer incidents: 1102 Richmond County car wrecks
and deer statistics: 1135 Rockdale County deer on the roads causing wrecks:
1856 Spalding County roadway wrecks because of deer: 1103.
It goes without saying that the deer that appeared on the roadway has no
insurance! However, I am often able to help my clients collect uninsured
motorist insurance when after a crash with a deer. Sometimes, too, my
client is struck by another vehicle that was avoiding a deer, and in that
case the insurance company for the driver who swerved to avoid the deer
may be required to compensate the people who were injured in the crash
or the family members of someone who was killed in the automobile collision.