Rockford Area Motorists Beware, It’s Deer Mating Season

It's that time of year again, the season when you'd better be paying more attention to your surroundings than you might normally. Our local deer population is looking for love.

I wanted to follow that line with "in all the wrong places," but really, the only truly wrong place would be out in the middle of a local highway or road. Or, your living room, assuming they jumped through your picture window (don't roll your eyes, it happens).

Anyway, your chances of a close encounter between your auto and a lovestruck deer go up exponentially around this time of year because the local deer are on the move across the Stateline.

Maybe you've never had a deer dart out in front of you, and you're thinking that it can't be that big of a deal, given the relative size of your car and the average deer. Well then, consider this:

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there are about 1 million car accidents with deer each year that kill 200 Americans, cause more than 10,000 personal injuries, and result in $1 billion in vehicle damage.

Granted, Illinois might not lead the nation in car versus deer accidents (we come in at #32), but according to a study last year by State Farm, for the twelfth consecutive year, West Virginia leads the nation as the state where you are most likely to hit a deer. Montana, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Iowa rank right behind the Mountain State as the worst states for deer collisions.

Let's be careful out there.