Staff File Photo by Dan Henry A deer stops traffic as it wanders across the street in the Chickamauga Battlefield Thursday afternoon.

Vehicle collisions with deer declined for the third consecutive year last year, cutting such accidents by 9 percent from 2008 to 2011. But there still were 1.09 million deer collisions with cars last year, or one for every 193 motorists nationwide. West Virginia had the highest rate of such accidents and Hawaii had the fewest.

1 South Carolina, 1 of every 140.1 motorists (U.S. rank 17th)

2 Mississippi, 1 of every 150.1 motorists (U.S. rank 18th)

3 Georgia, 1 of every 154 motorists ((U.S. rank 20th)

4 Alabama, 1 of every 163.4 motorists (U.S. rank 23rd)

5 Tennessee, 1 of every 223.4 motorists (U.S. rank 29th)

Source: State Farm Insurance analysis of claims data for collisions between deer and vehicles between July 1, 2010, and June 30, 2011