Cars and motorcycles crash into deer

Fatal crashes caused by animals at all-time high

WASHINGTON - Cars and motorcycles crash into deer more than 4,000 times a day, and it's taking an increasingly deadly toll - on people.

Last year a record 210 motorists were killed in collisions with animals, mostly deer. That was 40 more than the previous year and more than twice the number in 1993, according to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

"The deer population is growing and there are more vehicles on the road every year," Allan Williams, the institute's chief scientist, said Wednesday. "There's just a lot more chance for interaction with animals on the roads."  In this area, car-deer crashes happen all over but the main concentration occurs on the area highways, said Trooper Michelle Taylor with the Michigan State Police Reed City Post.   Typically, area troopers respond to crashes on a daily basis this time of year.
Read More ...

Mesick Accident

A car full of five 15- and 16-year-olds careened off a remote road near Mesick and struck several trees - killing two of the teenagers and injuring the other three. Sixteen-year-old driver Daniel Dexter Lylo of Mesick and passenger Beth Elayne Hartsock, 15, of Evart, died in the single-car crash in Springville Township just after midnight Saturday, the Cadillac post of the Michigan State Police reported.
The teens were headed north on Hodenpyle Road, south of M-115, in a 1995 Chrysler four-door car in a remote area of Springville Township, said Sgt. Malcolm Irwin. The car ran off the road and struck several trees about 12:45 a.m., police said. Three of the passengers, KD Lee Maxwell, 15, of Reed City; John Travis Baldwin, 15, of Mesick; and Craig Charles Blodgett, 16, of Leland, were taken to Munson Medical Center in Traverse City. A Munson nursing supervisor said Maxwell and Baldwin were listed in serious condition Saturday evening. Blodgett was listed in fair condition. Police continue to investigate the accident.