Good news, Missouri drivers. You are 8 percent less likely to collide your car into a deer than you were last year, according to a new report from auto insurer State Farm.
State Farm used its claims data and Federal Highway Administration state licensed driver counts to calculate the odds of a Missouri motorist striking a deer this coming year.
Between July 2013 and June 2014, a Missouri driver's odds of colliding with a deer were 1 out of 124. The year before, between July 2012 and June 2013 -- back when then-St. Louis Cardinal David Freese wrecked his car trying to avoid a deer -- the odds were 1 in 169.
See also: Top 3 Missouri Deer Hunter Videos So Far This Season
The news is good for drivers, not so good for deer.
Jason Sumners, a scientist with the Missouri Highway Department of Conservation, says the lower odds could stem from a viral infection that is ravaging Missouri's deer population. Hunters reported more than 10,000 deer dead from hemorrhagic disease in 2012 after a severe drought.
Missouri is ranked the 18th state in the U.S. for most deer collisions. West Virginia tops the list with 1 in 39 odds of striking a deer. Hawaii, where you're three times more likely to be struck by lightning than to strike a deer, is at the bottom of the list with 1 in 10,281 odds.
Follow Lindsay Toler on Twitter at @StLouisLindsay. E-mail the author at [email protected].
