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D-O-T advises motorists about increased deer activity

INTRO – Drivers are warned to exercise caution on the roads with increased deer activity. George Olsen has more.

Deer activity increases between October and December with mating and hunting seasons, increasing the likelihood of animal related automotive collisions. A press release from the state Department of Transportation says there were 17,831 animal related crashes in 2014… the lowest number since 2006. About 90% of those crashes between 2012 and 2014 involved deer. Over the past three years animal related crashes have resulted in nearly 3400 people suffering injuries … including 11 fatalities… as well as nearly $145 million in property damage. D-O-T says the largest number of crashes last year occurred between 5 and 7 am and 6 and 11 pm … times when deer movement increases and motorist visibility decreases with an earlier sunset. I’m George Olsen.

George Olsen is a 1977 Havelock High School graduate. He received his B.A. in Broadcast Journalism from the University of South Carolina in 1982 where he got his first taste of non-commercial radio working for their student station WUSC. After graduation he worked about five years in commercial radio before coming to work at Public Radio East where he has remained since outside of a nearly 3-year stint as jazz and operations coordinator at WUAL in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the early 1990s. On his return to eastern North Carolina he hosted classical music for Public Radio East before moving into the Morning Edition host position and now can be heard on All Things Considered. He also hosts and produces The Sound, five hours of Americana, Roots Rock and Contemporary Folk weekday evenings on PRE Public Radio East News & Ideas, and is a news and feature producer for Public Radio East.