Deer guards cut damage to Dakota County squad cars

With a flash of gray fur in the headlights, a deer bounded in front of the cruiser that Dakota County Sheriff's Deputy Sharon Drews was driving in rural Hampton Township recently.

The impact damaged the front end of her squad car; Drews was not hurt in the accident.

And the damage to the car was significantly reduced by push bumper grille guards that the department has installed on all marked patrol cars.

At a cost of about $300 apiece, the decision to buy them for the fleet came easy for the Sheriff's Office as it reviewed costs for such accidents, said Chief Deputy Dave Bellows. That was three years ago.

"We talked with our fleet folks, too, and they were telling us that prior to using these things, damage to a squad hitting a deer could be $6,000 to $8,000," he said. "These guards, when we've had a deer accident, have been reducing the damage to more in the $1,000 to $2,000 range. So clearly, these things paid for themselves immediately."

Deer have run onto the roads even when cruisers were coming with sirens wailing and emergency lights flashing, Bellows said.

"It's unfortunate, but the areas that we drive are especially dangerous and plentiful with deer, and so it's not unusual in a given year that our deputies hit a couple, three deer," Bellows said.

In southern Dakota County, 2009 appears to be one of the busiest in years for deer-vehicle collisions.

So far, at least 68 such accidents have taken place in southern Dakota County. In 2004, for instance, there were just 33, Bellows said. The tally for all of last year was 50.

The development of suburbs and exurbs brings more roads, and so there are more deer on the roads causing accidents, Bellows said. Part of the problem is that the metro area has no natural predators or hunting in most areas that could help keep the deer population from flourishing, he said.

"The deer herd has been moderating or decreasing in most areas of Minnesota, except the metro area or southeast Minnesota," said Pat Hahn, information officer for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

While many deer-vehicle crashes go unreported, in the past three years, 9,820 deer-vehicle crashes were reported. Those included 18 deaths, and all but two involved motorcyclists who were killed.

"The best safety advice is to be buckled up, be driving at safe speeds and if you encounter deer, brake and come to a controlled stop," said Nathan Bowie, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety. "It's safer to do that than it is to swerve, or veer, into oncoming traffic, or off the road."