Spikes in traffic and deer strikes at this time of year mark it as an especially dangerous week for holiday drivers in the Merrimack Valley and beyond.
MassDOT statistics and safety officers recommend added vigilance at the wheel, keeping eyes peeled and speed at bay.
In five Merrimack Valley cities and towns about half the vehicle and deer collisions in a year take place between October and December, according to records compiled by MassDOT.
The department says a quarter of all deer strikes in Massachusetts happen in November.
The crashes are driven by rutting male deer, according to state and local wildlife officials.
MassDOT deer collision data for Andover, Haverhill, North Andover, Methuen and Lawrence (order of prevalence) reflect the department’s statewide numbers.
There were 440 reported deer strikes in the five Valley towns between 2018-2022, the most recent years for which MassDOT has verified reports.
Of these incidents, 204, or 46%, took place in the final quarters of the years.
Andover had 176 reported and verified deer accidents in the five years, 82 of them, or about 47%, in the years’ last three months.
Collision locations included Route 125, Interstate 93, Interstate 495, Lowell Street and River Road.
“Especially (Route) 125,” says Andover Animal Control Officer Katie Kozikowski.
Along the state road are a lot of woods, and male deer chasing after females during the mating season.
This month Kozikowski has responded to deer hits on Route 125 and Lowell Street (Route 133).
Haverhill had 120 reported deer collisions in the five years, 56 of them, or about 47%, between October and December.
Locations included Route 125, Interstate 495, Kenoza Avenue and Amesbury Street.
Jessenia Fernandes is safety and training officer for MeVa transit, the regional public transportation provider, based in Haverhill.
Fernandes was previously a MeVa driver on all the region’s routes, stretching from Lowell to Newburyport.
Route 125 in North Andover, and North Avenue by the Plaistow, New Hampshire line, in Haverhill, are locations drivers need to be especially alert for deer running on to the road, she says.
Interstate 495 in the area of Merrimac and Amesbury is another problem area.
“Slow down and keep your eyes on the road,” Fernandes says.
Especially when it is getting dark, and, if you see a deer or something dark and moving.
Fernandes and others warn that if you see a deer run onto the road, be prepared for another or other deer to follow.
North Andover and Methuen each had 64 deer collisions in the five year report, and Lawrence had 16, and about half of them — in each town — took place between October and December.
The number of vehicle deer strikes a year in Massachusetts top 3,000, according MassDOT.
Some 72 million motorists will be on the road during the Thanksgiving travel period, between Tuesday, Nov. 26, and Monday, Dec. 2, according to AAA.
That’s about 1.3 million more drivers than last year.
Meanwhile, according to insurance industry figures, between 1.5- and 2-million animal/vehicle collisions take place in the United States per year, many of these strikes involving deer.
Massachusetts is considered a high-risk state for animal collisions, according to the State Farm Simple Insights publication.
One in 85 Massachusetts drivers were involved in an animal collision in 2023-2024.
New Hampshire is at low-risk for animal collisions, the likelihood put at one in 175 drivers.
Pennsylvania is the state with the most vehicle/animal collisions, 150,000, and West Virginia where the highest percentage of drivers hit animals, one in 40, according to State Farm.