Attention It's deer mating season

Drivers, beware: November is peak season for deer mating -- and for deer crossing roads.

AAA Mid-Atlantic and the Maryland State Highway Administration are warning drivers to slow down and look for deer, which are now in "rut" -- mating season.

"They're in the full throes of passion in November," AAA Mid-Atlantic's John Townsend said. "You have to be especially careful. The hours that they're most passionate are the same hours that we commute, the morning hour and evening rush hour."

One in 109 Virginia drivers are likely to hit a deer this year, and one in 119 drivers in Maryland, according to statistics released last month from State Farm Insurance.

Virginia ranks 12th on the list of states where drivers are most likely to hit a deer, and Maryland ranks 13th, according to State Farm. The District ranks 46th in hitting deer.

Those numbers put the Washington area on track for 80,000 deer-vehicle crashes per year, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.

Nationally, deer-related car crashes cost $4.6 billion a year in vehicle damage and medical expenses, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

To bring crash numbers down, local governments, including Fairfax County, are allowing bow hunting of deer on county property.