There are many causes of Wisconsin car accidents including driver distraction or intoxication. One car accident cause that is most unexpected is the hazard that animals pose for drivers. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that animal-related car accidents caused 173 fatalities in 2009, the latest year for statistics. Another 12,000 animal-related crashes caused personal injuries.

It is important to note that personal injuries and deaths rarely arise from the impact of the animal, but rather from the accident which follows. It is very common for motorists to brake suddenly or swerve upon seeing an animal, which can cause a serious vehicle rollover which unnecessarily injuries everyone in the car.

These crashes happen so fast, often times drivers don't have the option of making a decision about what to do," said a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The spokesman went on to say that hitting an animal is usually better than losing control of your vehicle and that drivers should never swerve or make abrupt lane changes before checking traffic first. Sudden lane shifts may also be inappropriate given the road conditions.

One of the most common causes of animal car accidents is deer. There were 1.09 million crashes involving deer between the summer of 2010 and the summer of 2011. The rate of these accidents spiked during the winter and the average cost of a crash involving a deer was over $3,000. Accidents in which drivers lost control of the vehicles had significantly higher costs.

Source: The Associated Press, "Swerving can be worse than hitting animal on road," Jan. 11, 2012