Survey Shows Many Local

Deer-Related Accidents

There is a high incidence of reported motor vehicle accidents involving deer in Newtown, according to the results of a survey of more than 30 police departments in the state.

Police Chief Michael Kehoe provided Police Commission members with the results of that poll at a recent session. The Redding Police Department conducted the survey.

In 2007, Newtown police handled 95 motor vehicle accidents involving deer; in 2006 that number was 101 accidents.

The only town in this area that had more deer-related accidents than Newtown was Ridgefield, which recorded 127 such collisions in 2007, and 115 deer-related accidents in 2006, according to the poll.

State police, which have their barracks scattered across the state and provide police coverage in many towns, reported that they responded to 2,700 deer-related accidents, on average, in each of the two years.

By way of comparison, the number of deer-related accidents reported in the poll for some area towns during 2007 were: Brookfield, 24; Danbury, 26; New Milford, 41; Redding, 45; Trumbull, 30; Westport, 23; and Wilton, 53.