Are you heading home soon from your Thanksgiving travels, or perhaps headed out to do some Black Friday shopping? Watch out for deer!
"It's a big issue that we need to be concerned about," Louisiana AAA spokesman Don Redman says. "It can have deadly consequences."
It is the middle of mating season for deer, and Redman says with the animals moving about looking for love, it increases the likelihood that a driver could hit one.
Redman says that according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, there are about 1.5 million crashes yearly involving deer, with tens of thousands of them causing injury to drivers and their passengers, and fatalities numbering in the hundred.
And don't think just because you're in a city like New Orleans that you can't run into them:
"That Bayou Sauvage area; there are deer grazing on the side of the road," Redman says.
Not only can hitting a deer cause injury or even death, it is bound to cause thousands of dollars of damage to your vehicle. And in some cases, the entire bill could fall on the driver.
"Just a basic collision coverage probably is not going to cover the cost if you strike a deer," said Redman. He recommends you check with your insurance provide and make sure you have comprehensive loss coverage.