LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For 48 years, Mark Kaelin has worked on cars and every year around November, he notices the same thing - an increase in the number of cars brought in that have been damaged by a deer.
"The deer hits start picking up and I guess they're on the run for mating season and we do seem to pick up work a lot from deer hits," he said.
The Kentucky Office of Highway Safety reports November has the highest number of reported crashes involving deer with this time of year being the peak for mating and migration. Kaelin, a partner at Jim's Body Shop in St. Matthews, said his personal experience backs that up, with the body shop seeing around 60 cases involving deer every year, with the majority coming in the late fall and early winter.
"They don't think it's that bad, but once you start looking at the damage, it adds up fast and they don't believe how much damage a deer can do to it," he said. "A lot of times when you tear them down, you'll end up finding more parts damaged and they can add up pretty fast."
Just this past weekend, a Louisville man took a photo of a crash outside his home on Arnoldtown Road. The man, Jeff Stinnett, told WHAS11 the deer had gone through the van's windshield and landed in the back of the van. According to Stinnett, the driver survived. It's a sight that while scary, is not uncommon for Kaelin.
"I've seen a lot of cars come in where the deer fly through the windshields when they get hit and I actually seen they were alive once they went in and were kicking around," he said. "So they're very lucky."