Edmund King, president of the AA, said the increase amounted to more than 1,400 deer being hit.
“In the South East it’s quite prevalent, areas like East Sussex, East Surrey and parts of Kent where you’ve got a large wooded area near a large road,” he said.
The increasing deer population makes incidents more likely, which is why many conservationists use culls to control numbers in an effort to limit environmental damage and car strikes.
Some animal rights groups argue that culls are cruel and ineffective.
Nearly 900 fallow doe were culled in Ashdown Forest in East Sussex between November 2024 and March 2025, and about 170,000 meals were donated to foodbanks, community kitchens and homeless shelters through the scheme.