{"id":194615,"date":"2025-10-01T11:50:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T11:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/194615\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T11:50:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T11:50:07","slug":"hit-a-deer-youre-not-alone-missouri-ranks-among-states-with-highest-animal-collisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/194615\/","title":{"rendered":"Hit a deer? You’re not alone. Missouri ranks among states with highest animal collisions."},"content":{"rendered":"

The Show Me State continues to rank among the worst states in terms of animal-vehicle collisions, despite a decline in recent years.<\/p>\n

Missouri drivers have a 1 in 97 chance of colliding with an animal, compared to the national average of 1 in 139, according to a study<\/a> conducted by State Farm. This puts Missouri at the No. 17 spot on State Farm’s national ranking.<\/p>\n

From July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, roughly 1.7 million auto insurance claims were filed nationwide in relation to animal-vehicle crashes. Deer overwhelmingly made up the bulk of these incidents, accounting for more than 1.1 million of these claims. Unknown animals, rodents, dogs and raccoons round out the top 5 of animals most struck by vehicles.<\/p>\n

Missouri sees fewer animal collisions\"Map<\/p>\n

Map showing likelihood of vehicle-animal collisions across the U.S. between 2024-2025.<\/p>\n

Despite Missouri still being designated as a “high-risk state,” the number of animal collision incidents reported has steadily declined in recent years.<\/p>\n

Last year’s list from State Farm<\/a> had Missouri in the No. 14 spot, with drivers having a 1 in 83 chance of hitting an animal. The Show Me State cracked the top 10 in the 2022\/2023 rankings<\/a>, with a 1 in 80 chance of an animal-vehicle collision.<\/p>\n

Why fall increases your risk of hitting an animal<\/p>\n

The likelihood of striking an animal on the road is at its peak during the fall, with that season alone making up 41% of all related claims.<\/p>\n

November is the most dangerous month for animal collisions, followed by October and December.<\/p>\n

How to avoid animal-vehicle collisions<\/p>\n

Here are some tips<\/a> courtesy of State Farm on how to avoid animals on the road.<\/p>\n

Stay alert.\u00a0Pay attention to\u00a0“deer crossing”\u00a0and “wildlife crossing” signs and be cautious in areas near woods or water.<\/p>\n

Use high beams.\u00a0Flicking your high beams on an animal in the road may cause the animal to scurry away. High beams also help illuminate dark roads.<\/p>\n

Don’t swerve.\u00a0If a car crash is inevitable, maintain control of your vehicle and stay on the road.<\/p>\n

Brake, as necessary.\u00a0If you can avoid hitting the animal, reduce your speed, honk your horn and tap your brakes to warn other drivers. If there are no drivers behind you, brake hard.<\/p>\n

Remember peak season.\u00a0Animal collisions happen most during October through December, which is hunting and mating season.<\/p>\n

Remember mealtime.\u00a0Watch for animals in the road between dusk and dawn.<\/p>\n

Watch for herds.\u00a0If you see one deer, there are probably more nearby.<\/p>\n

Don’t use a whistle.\u00a0No scientific evidence supports that car-mounted deer whistles work.<\/p>\n

Wear seat belts.\u00a0Always obey speed limits and wear seat belts.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on USATNetwork: Missouri among top states for animal vs. vehicle crashes<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Show Me State continues to rank among the worst states in terms of animal-vehicle collisions, despite a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194616,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[112944,6747,79,112943,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-194615","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-auto-insurance-claims","9":"tag-missouri","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-state-farm","12":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}