CINCINNATI — It's the time of year when Ohio deer are looking for love, and that coincides with collisions involving the amorous mammals.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol reports that this is the time of year they see the most crashes involving deer.
Over the last five years, troopers have investigated more than 100,000 deer-related crashes in Ohio, and I-71 and I-75 are among the top five routes for those collisions.
Sgt. Christina Hayes said those crashes have killed 28 people over that time period.
Her advice: Use high beams when possible, reduce all distractions while driving and don't speed.
And if a crash with a deer seems unavoidable, Hayes said, don't swerve — hit the brakes hard.
"I've been on multiple crashes throughout my career where people have swerved to miss and created more damage or even taken, you know, serious injuries because they ended up hitting a utility pole or a tree," she said. "Where if they would have just hit the deer would have more or less property damage."
Hayes said while almost half of all deer-related crashes happen in October, November and December, they can happen any time of year.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet also put out a warning this week, reporting almost 2,100 crashes last year. Many occurred in Boone County, which had 123.
