BLOOMINGTON, IL — Motorists are more likely to hit a deer on a West Virginia highway than any other state. The conclusion comes from an annual study of auto collision claims by State Farm Insurance, West Virginia’s largest auto insurance company.

“For the tenth year in a row, West Virginia has ended up number one in State Farm’s annual deer collision data,” said State Farm Insurance Spokesman Dave Phillips.”This year the odds are 1 in 41 in West Virginia. The previous year it was 1 in 44 so it’s about a 5.4 percent increase of the risk of a deer collision.”

West Virginia’s rural nature and mountainous terrain are one of the reasons for the high numbers of deer collisions. There were 28,200 claims in the state for deer collision in the past year which was up from the previous year when it was 26,000. The figure marks about a seven percent increase in claims. Although the chances of hitting a deer in the state increased from 2015 to 2016, Phillips said the cost of the average deer collision repair actually dropped.

“The collisions may not be as severe in the sense folks may be slowing down on impact or the collision repair itself may not have been as severe as the previous year had shown,” said Phillips.

One disturbing trend Phillips noted was a sharp increase in the number of motorcycle collisions with deer. He added an unusually high number of those collisions included riders being injured or killed who were not involved in the initial impact with the deer.

“In some instances it’s not just one individual being injured or unfortunately killed in those impacts,” he said. “If you’re riding, stagger your formation.”

November is the number one month for deer collision in West Virginia followed by October and then December. Phillips cautioned September was normally seen as the start of the uptick in the accidents which involved white tails.

While West Virginia was the #1 state for odds of hitting a deer, Montana was second with odds at 1 in 58, Pennsylvania third at 1 in 67, Iowa was 1 in 68, and rounding out the top five was South Dakota at 1 in 70.