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This 6-point buck was roaming the west side of Kalamazoo's Westnedge Hill Neighborhood in 2010.

(MLive file photos)

While firearm deer hunting doesn't start for another three weeks, the season of deer-car crashes has begun.

October and November historically have the highest number of car-deer crashes in Michigan. For all of 2012 in Michigan, deer crashes resulted in 1,329 injuries and eight deaths. There is an average 134 deer/vehicle crashes each day.

The number and rate of accidents vary widely by location.

In the past five years, Kent and Oakland counties have had the highest number of crashes. But when the rate is calculated based on number of crashes per 1,000 people,

St. Clair and Alcona counties have the highest rates.

Here is a database where you can find the number of car-deer crashes in each Michigan county from 2008 to 2012.

How to use the database

You can either select all the counties or specific counties. You can choose multiple counties by clicking them and holding down the shift key.

After searching, you will see a graph with the number of car-deer crashes for each county from 2008 to 2012. Below, there will be more data, including the total number of crashes between 2008 and 2013, as well as the total number of fatalities and injuries. There is also the number of car-deer crashes per 1,000 people, based on an average of U.S. Census population estimates.

The last two columns have the county ranks, first for the number of crashes per 1,000 residents and then for total number of crashes.

Click details to see more information on the data.

.

Data was provided by the Michigan State Police.

You can also search by

groups

: see the top, middle or bottom third list of deer crashes in counties. The data is sorted by the average number of deer crashes per 1,000

people.

.

Staying safe on the road

So what can you do to make sure you are not added to this list? Michigan Deer Crash Coalition chair Lori Conarton says that drivers should think about deer when driving and drive

defensively

. Deer can appear at almost any time.

“Most injuries and deaths occur when motorists veer to avoid the deer,” said Conarton, who represents the Insurance Institute of Michigan on the coalition. “So when a deer crash is unavoidable, it is important to have your hands on the steering wheel, slow down and stay in your own lane.”

Also, deer often travel in groups. If you see one deer, there will likely be more.

Read more tips on staying safe from deer on the road.

See a larger database from the state of Michigan that includes all deer crashes and their exact locations across Michigan.

Fritz Klug is a news buzz reporter for MLive. Contact him at fklug@mlive.com or 269-370-0584. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or App.net.