Barb McCann was driving on M-22 just south of the Northport Village limit Monday morning when she hit a deer.

“It just jumped out in front of me,” the retired Northport teacher said. “Somebody asked me what I was going to do. I’ll get it fixed and borrow a car … Not everybody has an extra car to drive around.”

Hers is a story that has been repeated over and over again this month throughout the county and state. The rate of car-deer crashes recorded in Leelanau for the first seven days of November nearly assures there will be far more this year than the same month last year.

From Nov. 1-7 alone, 21 car-deer accidents were reported to the county’s 9-1-1 dispatch center, an average of three per day. If that pace continues, at least 85 car-deer accidents will be reported for November, compared to just 39 during the same month in 2006.

“The months of November, October and June were the most active in terms of car-deer accidents last year,” Undersheriff Scott Wooters said.

According to the Insurance Institute of Michigan, there were a total of 235 car-deer accidents reported in Leelanau County during 2005 – an average of just less than 20 a month. That increased to 250 last year, up 6 percent.

Most of the accidents reported to deputies this month have occurred between the hours of 5 and 9 a.m., and 5 and 9 p.m. Interestingly, Nov. 2 and Nov. 7 were the busiest in terms of accidents. On Nov. 2, all but one of the five accidents recorded took place from 7:30 to 8:45 a.m. Conversely, on Nov. 7, three of the five accidents were reported between 6 and 7:45 p.m.

Most of the accidents took place in less populated inland areas. Five car-deer accidents were reported over the week-long period in Solon and Centerville townships and the Maple City area, and in Kasson and Cleveland townships. Hot spots were County Road 651, south of 616, M-22 and County Road 667, M-72 and 667, Maple City and Kasson Center roads, and M-22 north of Townline Road.

Car-deer crashes in Michigan cause at least $130 million in damage annually, according to the Michigan Deer Crash Coalition. In 2006, 12 motorists in Michigan died in deer crashes, and another 1,477 people were injured.

Although it may seem as if deer are being struck with regularity, the number of car-deer accidents reported in Leelanau each year is much lower than most of other counties statewide.

According to the state Office of Highway Safety Planning, there were only three counties in the Michigan’s Lower Peninsula with a lower occurrence of car-deer crashes. The lowest number per year recorded on the south side of the Mackinac Bridge was in Oscoda County, where 165 accidents were counted. The next highest tallies were in Otsego and Montmorency counties, where 210 and 215 were reported, respectively. Leelanau was next with 250.

North of the Mighty Mac, the least number of car-deer crashes, 47, was reported in the remote Keweenaw County. The highest number of deer killed by vehicles last year were in Delta and Menominee counties, where 875 and 749 were reported, respectively.

In the Grand Traverse Bay area, Leelanau had the fewest number of accidents last year. Following were Benzie County with 259, Kalkaska with 271, Antrim with 419, and Grand Traverse with 524.

McCann’s vehicle was damaged on the front door, front quarter panel and hood on the passenger side. But she said she was grateful that was all that was hurt.

“Cars can be replaced - people can’t,” she said.