During the winter, limo drivers have to always be looking out for icy and slippery roads, but what about deer? If your company drivers don’t have the training required to steer clear of deer while driving during these dark cold months, you may want to educate them on the best practices to avoid such an issue. Hitting a deer can cause irreversible damage to a vehicle, so if you’d like to avoid any limo insurance claims in your future, here is what you should know.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that more than 1.5 million deer/vehicle collisions occur every year. In order to avoid falling into this statistic, here are some ways to avoid deer collisions this season:

1. Continually scan the road for deer. If you see one near the edge of the road, slow down immediately so you will be able to react to their behavior.
2. Use high beams when it’s safe to do so and you’re not around any other vehicles. When you’re in a wooded area, high beams will greatly increase your visibility in this situation and may help reflect deer eyes in the distance.
3. Honking your horn and flashing your headlights can help scare an animal out of the middle of the road if you see one in the distance.
4. When you do see a deer in the road, try to avoid swerving because you could find yourself turning into oncoming traffic or off the side of the road into a ditch. This situation may cause more injuries than actually hitting the deer would.
5. If you do happen to strike a deer or other animal, do not try to move it or else it could injure you. Instead , contact the authorities and stay at the scene until the proper assistance arrives.

At Wolpert Insurance & Risk Management, we want to make sure limo drivers in Massachusetts are being as safe as possible on the roads this winter. For more information, contact our livery insurance agency today.