Deer John
Summary: Pennsylvania has dropped in the car-deer collision rankings to No. 6 -- but you still better watch out for them whitetails! Reporter: John Shumway, KDKA Channel 2 Airtime: 3 minutes, 9 seconds on Oct. 14 Highlights: * When anchor Ken Rice introduces the story: "Dodging deer -- we've all had to do it at one time or another, haven't we? More often than not, it does not end well. When it comes to deer-versus-vehicle crashes, Pennsylvania is no longer number one. However, we are still knocking off the whitetail by the thousands." * When Shumway picks up: "Yeah, Ken, I am in about the only place where you really don't have to worry about the deer: Downtown Pittsburgh. Get outside the Golden Triangle anywhere in our region, and it's a real concern right now." * When Shumway adds, "'Cause the deer are in the rut. Which means they got the opposite sex on the brain, and not your bumper. And that is particularly a problem from now until December. You really have to watch out for the bumper Bambis!" * When Shumway recites these stats: "An estimated 200 people a year die from deer accidents, but damage from the collisions totals in the millions." * When a rep from State Farm, which tracks such data, says, "In Pennsylvania, it's one out of every 85 drivers [who] will hit a deer." * When a state trooper advises drivers to "[m]aintain a good sight distance ... look at what's ahead of you, because that would give you a little time to react." * When the State Farm rep cautions, "Folks will swerve, and they'll swerve into oncoming traffic, which is even more significant and severe. If you have to choose between the deer and the guardrail, hit the deer. The deer will move, the guardrail won't." * When Shumway informs us, "The deer's most active time is from 6 o'clock to 9 o'clock at night, right around the dusk hours, and again around the dawn hours. And if you see one ... there's definitely more around." * When he ends, "Live, Downtown, safe from the deer, John Shumway." Unanswered Question: Is there a reason we dropped to No. 6? What We Learned: Deer keep the same hours as local news reporters! News Value: 5. It's a story we see every year, but it's good to be reminded. Let's hope those deer knock over a few political yard-signs while frantically dashing for sex.
