Why Michigan Drivers Need to Be Extra Alert This Season

If you drive anywhere in Michigan between now and mid-December, you are entering the riskiest stretch of the year for a deer to end up in your headlights. Late October through December is when Michigan sees the most deer-related crashes of any time of year, and your coverage is worth a second look before that window hits its peak. Here’s what you need to know about your insurance, followed by a closer look at why this particular stretch of the year is so much riskier than the rest.

10/27/20264 min read

The Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services identifies comprehensive coverage as what responds when a vehicle collides with an animal. Comprehensive coverage is optional unless your lender or lease requires it, which means if you dropped it at some point to save money, a direct deer strike would likely come entirely out of pocket.

If you swerve instead of hitting the deer directly, and you strike another vehicle, a tree, a guardrail, or roll over, that is often a different situation, typically handled under collision coverage, which usually carries a different deductible. This is also why law enforcement and safety officials consistently advise against swerving: some of the most serious deer-related crashes happen not from the deer impact itself, but from what happens when a driver swerves to avoid one.

What to Do If You Hit a Deer

Get safely out of traffic. Move your vehicle off the roadway if you can, turn on your hazard lights, and check for injuries.
Stay away from the deer. An injured deer can be unpredictable and dangerous to approach.
Report the crash to local law enforcement, depending on the severity and your location.
Document the scene if it’s safe to do so: vehicle damage, road conditions, and location.
Call your agent. This is the step people skip, and it’s the one that gets your claim moving correctly from the start.

Check Your Coverage Now, Not After

Two drivers can both carry comprehensive coverage and still have very different outcomes after the same deer strike, simply because of their deductible. Before deer activity peaks in your part of the state, it’s worth confirming three things:

Do you currently carry comprehensive coverage?
What is your deductible, and would that dollar amount surprise you right now?
Does every vehicle on your policy carry the same coverage, or does one of them have a gap?

A Few Ways to Lower Your Risk This Season

Slow down and stay especially alert at dawn and dusk, when deer are most active even outside of peak season.
Watch for deer-crossing signage, and remember that deer rarely travel alone. If you see one, expect more nearby.
If a collision looks unavoidable, brake firmly and stay in your lane rather than swerving.
Get your headlights, wipers, tires, and brakes checked before the days get shorter. Reaction time matters more when visibility is worse.

Want to make sure your comprehensive coverage and deductible actually match your risk before deer activity peaks in Southeast Michigan? Reach out to Spearpoint and let’s review your policy now, while there’s still time to make changes.

Why This Time of Year Is So Different: What’s Actually Driving the Increase

If you’re wondering why the next several weeks are so much worse than the rest of the year for deer on the road, there’s a specific reason behind it. Wildlife experts call this period “the rut,” and it is the single biggest driver of Michigan’s fall deer-crash numbers.

For most of the year, deer move on a fairly predictable pattern tied to food and shelter, mostly at dawn and dusk. During the rut, that pattern breaks down. Deer become far more active and start covering much larger amounts of ground, at all hours of the day, not just morning and evening. The result for drivers: deer that normally stuck to predictable crossing patterns at dawn and dusk start showing up in the road at random times, including the middle of the day and in places they aren’t usually seen.

This period unfolds in stages, and each one changes deer behavior differently:

Early phase: Activity starts picking up, mostly still concentrated around dawn and dusk. Movement is increasing but still fairly predictable.

Peak phase: This is where things get unpredictable fast. Deer move quickly and cover long distances at any hour of the day. This phase produces some of the most erratic, hard-to-predict deer movement of the entire year, which makes it particularly dangerous for drivers.

Lull phase: Visible activity actually appears to drop for a few days in the middle of the season, as deer stay closer to cover. They’re still very active, just less visible, which can create a false sense of security right before movement picks back up again.

Late phase: Activity picks back up through late November and into December as the season winds down, with a smaller second wave of movement extending the risk window further than most drivers expect.

For Spearpoint's Midwest clients, that means the back half of November is when deer movement is most concentrated and least predictable, right as shorter daylight hours already push more commutes into dawn and dusk.

This information is provided as general information and is not intended to be specific insurance, legal, or financial guidance. Coverage, terms, exclusions, limits, and deductibles vary by policy and insurance carrier. Consult your policy documents and a licensed insurance professional regarding your specific situation.

Sources:

Insurance Information Institute, “Facts + Statistics: Deer Vehicle Collisions.” https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-deer-vehicle-collisions
WNEM, “AAA urges Michigan drivers to slow down for peak deer crash season,” October 2026. https://www.wnem.com/2026/10/27/aaa-urges-michigan-drivers-slow-down-peak-deer-crash-season/
StateOutdoors.org, “Whitetail Deer Rut Dates by State 2026-2027: Peak Rut Calendar & Hunting Tips.” https://stateoutdoors.org/hunting/whitetail-deer-rut-dates-by-state/

The Numbers Behind the Warning

Michigan consistently ranks among the worst states in the country for deer-vehicle crashes, and this time of year is exactly why.

Michigan recorded more than 58,000 deer-related crashes in the most recent full year of data, a number that has stayed roughly flat for several years running.
Those crashes caused 13 deaths and more than 1,700 injuries.
Nearly 41% of all deer-related crashes in Michigan happen during October, November, and December.
Michigan ranks 5th among all states for animal collisions, with industry data putting the odds of any individual driver hitting an animal at roughly 1 in 68.

Does Your Auto Insurance Actually Cover Hitting a Deer?

This is the part a lot of drivers get wrong. Striking a deer is generally treated as a comprehensive claim, not a collision claim, under Michigan auto policies.