With farmers harvesting crops and hunters about to be active throughout the state, there will likely be a lot more deer moving around than usual in the coming months.

With that in mind, Dallas County Sheriff Chad Leonard offers safety advice for when it comes to deer on the road. First, he recommends never having a mobile device out while driving, as a distracted driver is more likely to hit animals crossing roads. He also advises to always scan for deer from ditch to ditch. Finally, when driving at night he says it’s important to have your high beams on to see more clearly. Leonard adds, if a collision with a deer can’t be avoided, the old saying “don’t veer for deer” is the best thing to do.

“Well, you don’t want to swerve, you know that always ends up worse than what it should be. So if you can apply the breaks and hit the deer head-on, that’s usually the best method and causes the least amount of damage. Some people think they can drive around it, if you’re going slow enough maybe that’s the case. But if you’re travelling 55 or 60 miles-an-hour and you try to swerve, who knows what’s going to happen? And if you got family with you, you know it’s just easier to fix the car than it is to treat your children or spouse for injuries.”

Leonard also reminds people to call local law enforcement after a collision with a deer, and the officers will give you paperwork for insurance purposes. To learn more about this and other fall safety topics, listen to today’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program on air and at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.