Deer causing more car wrecks in Georgia

AUGUSTA - Deer are causing more car accidents in Georgia than ever before.<br> <br> Accident rates caused when deer collided with vehicles went up in 112 Georgia counties last year. The state&#39;s overall rate went up more than eight percent to 51,210 deer struck. <br> <br> Officials say the increase is due to development in former rural areas and the overpopulation of deer. <br> <br> Nick Nicholson is a senior wildlife biologist with the Department of Natural Resources. He compiles the deer strike report using insurance claims, registered vehicles and other data. <br> <br> In Augusta&#39;s Richmond County, there were 1,263 deer-car collisions last year. <br> <br> Georgia&#39;s least populous community -- Taliaferro County -- yielded the highest accident rate in Georgia, with 96.2 deer strikes per one-thousand registered vehicles. <br> <br> And in Dougherty County in southwest Georgia, an unusual deer wreck earlier this month made local headlines. A car hit a deer and sent it flying through the air, into the path of a school bus carrying four-year-olds to preschool. <br> <br> The deer crashed through the bus&#39; windshield and landed in the driver&#39;s lap, leaving her with minor injuries. No children were hurt.