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SALT LAKE CITY — When you think of the Division of Wildlife Resources, you don't usually think of cars and driving — but this time of year, they would like you to.
That's because daylight saving time makes the morning commute darker for many drivers.
"Lots of folks are driving in low-light conditions, so they're driving when the deer are out feeding," said DWR spokesman Mark Hadley.
Though the DWR doesn't keep exact numbers, Hadley said the division sees more animals hit by cars on the morning drive when we jump that one hour ahead.
Lou Flores owns an auto-body repair shop in Parleys Canyon and knows firsthand what kind of damage happens a vehicle hits big game, like deer or elk.
"The front, the hood, the windshield; it was all destroyed," Flores said of a car that recently came into his shop.
- For animals, collisions with cars are almost always fatal.
- In 2010, Utah had more than 2,800 vehicle-animal collisions that were large enough to generate a crash report (more than $1,500 in damage).
- Utah State University research estimates between 6,000 and 10,000 deer are killed on Utah's roads each year.
Source: WatchForDeerUtah.com
To prevent these accidents, Hadley and the DWR caution drivers to slow down and scan the sides of the road for movement anywhere they're driving.
"You want to be aware of what's going on on both sides of the road," he said. "That's where the big game animals are going to come from."
"Deer:30" is what DWR officials have dubbed the time of the day when we're more likely to hit animals. It starts at dusk and continues through dawn.
"Even if you're along the Wasatch Front, that doesn't mean you're safe," Hadley said.
The division has a website devoted to keeping drivers safe from animals on Utah roads. For more information visit www.watchfordeerutah.com.
