As the peak months of deer-vehicle crashes is near, state agencies are warning drivers about the increase that is impacting every county in Kansas.
According to the Kansas Department of Transportation, nearly 20 percent of all crashes in Kansas in 2017 were deer-related.
State Representative, Joe Seiwert knows firsthand about deer crashes.
“In all our family, we’ve calculated over 20 accidents over the years,” Seiwert said.
That and losing one of his friends in a motorcycle-deer crash pushed Seiwert to run for State Representative to try to create laws to save lives.
“We Introduced more legislation to get more hunting days, more permits, we used to have transferable permits for farmers,” Seiwert said. “It’s not just about the buck, it’s about controlling the deer management population to make our highways safe.
Collision shops in Wichita and surrounding areas are seeing that increase, too.
Ken Hunnel at All Angles Collision Repair said his shops see several cars a week that come in with damages from deer.
“We have four locations and each of those locations has two or three deer impacts at each one of the stores,” Hunnel said. “We have about 12 or more at any given time. Some of those repairable, some of those not.”
To see all of the statistics of deer-related accidents in Kansas in 2017, visit the Kansas Highway Patrol website or the Kansas Department of Transportation press release.