Deer Crashes Cost Pennsylvania $400 Million

Our traffic ticket attorneys’ clients are always worried about the cost of speeding tickets and other citations. However, the entire state of Pennsylvania should be aware of the cost of collisions between our vehicles and deer.

State Farm insurance projects that about 115,000 collisions occurred in Pennsylvania in the year that ended June 30, 2013. The average damage claim from those collisions was just over $3,400. That works out to nearly $400 million for the year.

Pennsylvania has hands-down the highest number of deer-vehicle crashes, with Michigan a distant second at 77,000, according to State Farm’s data.

Their report also states that, nationwide, the odds of a driver hitting a deer have declined by 4.3 percent. However, in Pennsylvania reportable deer-related crashes (this also includes incidents where the driver missed the deer but hit something else) have steadily increased, going from 4,109 in 2008 to 4,855 last year. Fourteen people died and 1,352 were injured in 2012.

Despite Pennsylvania’s high number of collisions, West Virginia is the state where a typical motorist stood the greatest chance of taking a deer in the headlights — a 1 in 41 chance. Pennsylvania was fifth, with a 1 in 77 chance.

If you are involved in an accident with a deer and receive a citation, please don’t hesitate to speak with one of our traffic ticket lawyers any time.