For all the deer we see throughout the state, Colorado is considered at low-risk for deer-vehicle collisions.
There were 11,940 deer-vehicle collisions during the past year in Colorado, according to a survey conducted by State Farm.
I’ve never had the misfortune of hitting a deer, though I’ve known many motorists who have. I barely missed a herd of seven bighorn sheep in January 2004 on icy and snow-covered U.S. 40 near Empire, driving a rear-wheel-drive Ford Crown Vic. I swerved to the left into the middle of the road at the same moment a big ram
moved his rear 6 inches the other direction.
Colorado ranks 37th in the nation for deer hits. If the 11,940 seems high, consider Pennsylvania, with nearly 115,000 deer-related collisions in the past year. That’s the highest number in the country; when figuring Pennsylvania’s population, though, the state ranks fifth in the probability of hitting a deer on the highway.
The 10 states with highest probability of deer collisions are West Virginia, Montana, Iowa, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Mississippi, Arkansas and Michigan. The lowest is Hawaii.
With 3.7 million licensed drivers in Colorado, the 11,940 deer-vehicle collisions are a 1-in-307 likelihood. Odds in adjacent states are 1-97 in Wyoming, 1-131 in Nebraska, 1-135 in Kansas, 1-206 in Utah and 1-554 in New Mexico.
Dodge, Subaru lead sales gains
Dodge, Subaru, Ram, BMW, Land Rover and Mazda showed the biggest percentage gains in sales of new cars and trucks in August in Colorado.
New car/truck sales in the state jumped 16 percent in August, according to the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association, to 15,368 from 13,252 the same month a year ago.
For the first eight months of the year, percentage leaders were Dodge, with a gain of 53.8 percent, Ram with 30.4, BMW 30, Porsche 29.8, Jaguar 28.9, Subaru 28.4 and Lexus 26.9.
Leaders in total sales numbers for the year thus far are Toyota/Scion with 14,730, Ford with 14,418, Subaru 11,438, Honda 9,547, Chevrolet 8,645 and Nissan 7,151.
Bud Wells can be reached via e-mail at bwells@denverpost.com.
