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Illinois Third in Deer Collisions

Too many people in the Land of Lincoln have seen a deer caught in the headlights. So many, in fact, that it’s turned Illinois into the third leading state in deer-vehicle collisions, according to a survey released by State Farm last year. Michigan and Indiana also made the top ten. Suburban areas often have more deer than rural areas and contribute mightily to the 1.5 million deer-vehicle collisions that occur annually nationwide. These cause more than 150 fatalities and $1.1 billion in property damage each year, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The high rate of deer-related accidents is connected to the rise in deer population throughout the United States. In the early 1900s, recovering from the pressure of overhunting, there were roughly 500,000 white-tailed deer nationwide. A century later, some put that estimate at as many as 30 million.

Conservationists have documented the serious adverse effects that high numbers of deer have on ecosystems. A great many species, ranging from plants to butterflies, suffer when deer are overpopulated. In Cook County, one study in Busse Woods recorded 100 deer per square mile (a more sustainable figure would be 10 to 20). Many view culling as the most effective method of managing deer populations.

Some have argued that the use of firearms for hunting and sharpshooting is unsafe; yet driving in an area with too many deer has proven far more likely to result in an accident. According to the most recent report by the International Hunter Education Association, there were 850 hunting accidents in the entire United States in 2002. In 2004, there were 881 vehicle crashes caused by deer in Cook County alone.

—Meghan Watt