Apparently, just regular old “deer crossing” highway signs weren’t getting the message across.
People of the Internet are fawning over a sign in rural Ford County, Illinois, that warns of “suicidal deer” on the highway.
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Watch out, drivers!
Will Brumleve/Paxton Record
But Ford County officials aren’t the first to come up with the idea. Ron Hilligoss, a local highway commissioner, told the Ford County Record that his nephew sent him a photo of a similar sign in Colorado around six months ago.
“He texted it to me, and I thought it was really a good thing because it gets your attention,” Hilligoss said. “So we had a Ford County Highway Department meeting and I said, ‘Can you get me these signs?’”
The Ford County Highway Department ended up buying four signs, and the first one went up about six weeks ago. They’re hoping it makes drivers pay attention, since last year there were 33 vehicle-deer collisions in the county,
Deer collisions aren’t just horrible news for the deer -- they’re also dangerous for humans. About 150 people die and more than 10,000 are injured from deer-related crashes each year, Al Cambronne, the author of Deerland: America’s Hunt for Ecological Balance and the Essence of Wildness, wrote last year for Slate.
However, Cambronne notes that swerving to avoid hitting a deer can be even more dangerous, as doing so can make a driver lose control of the car, roll into a ditch or crash into a tree or oncoming traffic. In other words, stop if you can, but don’t swerve and risk your life even further.
And always wear your seat belt.
"In most cases the fatal crashes [with animals] could have been prevented had the motorists taken the basic precaution of putting on a seat belt,” Insurance Institute for Highway Safety spokesman Russ Rader told NPR.
Also on HuffPost:
Oh, Deer!
White-tailed Deer(01 of20)
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A white-tailed doe. (credit:Lisa Sproat/500px)
deer(02 of20)
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(credit:Lee Kyeong Hwan/500px)
Deer Family(03 of20)
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A family of deer turn to the camera as the sun sets on Dunwich Heath in Suffolk, UK. (credit:Oli Moorman/500px)
deer(04 of20)
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Deer in the morning sun (credit:Alain Carels/500px)
Here's a Wink Deer :)(05 of20)
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It's a happy feeling when a photograph comes out decent; it's even better when everything falls into place and you get the perfect wink :) (credit:Gaurav Bathla/500px)
Deers(06 of20)
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Deers (credit:Mohammad Abdul Tariq/500px)
Deer Stag(07 of20)
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Alert Stag (credit:Rohit Varma/500px)
Watching you!(08 of20)
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(credit:Richard Puhl/500px)
EL SALVADOR-ANIMALS-DEER-ZOO(09 of20)
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A couple of chital deer (Axis axis) and their two-month offspring are seen at the National Zoo of El Salvador, in San Salvador, on March 16, 2015. The fawn is the first to be born at the National Zoo and will be visible to the public from today on. AFP PHOTO / Marvin RECINOS (Photo credit should read Marvin RECINOS/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:MARVIN RECINOS via Getty Images)
Snowy Deer(10 of20)
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Thank you for posing, Mrs. Deer. (credit:Stephen Ransom/500px)
Exmoor Stag(11 of20)
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Taken at Dunkery Beacon, Exmoor. Light conditions were pretty poor today with very thick fog, but happy with this shot of a Red Deer stag. (credit:Dulcie Mae/500px)
Spotted Deer(12 of20)
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Spotted Deer, Taken at Kabini (credit:nara simhan/500px)
oh deer(13 of20)
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deer of some kind in a park (credit:Christoph Kuchowsky/500px)
Deer in herbs(14 of20)
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A young deer strolling around in urban forest patches near home, looked very nice and scampered away quickly afterwards. (credit:Guilhem /500px)
The solitary survivor (for the moment)(15 of20)
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Cervus elaphus (credit:Thomas Zumbiehl/500px)
Lonely Deer(16 of20)
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Lonely deer in Poland.If You like it, share it! :) (credit:Patryk Pociecha/500px)
the model(17 of20)
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(credit:Appie Verschoor/500px)
Spotted Deer(18 of20)
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(credit:Srivathsa Dangety/500px)
Deer, photographer(19 of20)
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(credit:Mikhail Kalugin/500px)
I Saw What You Did There...: Great Smoky Mtns.(20 of20)
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(credit:Charles "Skip" Martin/500px)
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