New York State Department of Motor Vehicles and Department of Environmental Conservation have an important message for motorists, be extra careful of deer on the roads.

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While deer are a common nuisance on the roadways in the Southern Tier, your odds of running into one just went up. According to the New York State DMV and DEC, October, November, and December are the worst months statistically for deer and moose-related accidents.

According to a press release, deer and moose are especially active at this time of year, and are much more likely to wander into the road during their breeding season. In 2021, 41% of deer-related crashes happened in this three month span. And since the sun is rising much later and setting much earlier, it will be harder for motorists to see the deer and moose when they decide that they have the right of way.

Even earlier this week, WNBF received a report of a car hitting a deer on Vestal Parkway, backing up morning traffic. And many times on my way into the studio in the early hours of the morning, I've had to slam on the breaks because of a deer just wandering around on the roads in the morning.

Now when I moved here, I was told by a lifetime upstater you're not a real upstate New Yorker until your car has been nearly totaled by a deer. I'm hoping that isn't true, but even it just the few months I've been here I've had a few close calls. So finding out that my time in Binghamton has been the down season for deer-related accidents has me slightly nervous that one day, WNBF's First News is going to start with me trying to explain why I'm out of breath from running halfway to the studio at 5 am.

Regardless, Binghamton is on notice now. Drive extra carefully and keep an eye on the side of the roads in case some deer decide they want to be on the other side of a busy highway.

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