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WV again leads in odds of hitting a deer, a fact that hits close to home for Justice

CHARLESTON, W.VA. — For the 11th consecutive year, West Virginia is at the top of State Farm’s list for the likelihood of vehicle crashes involving a deer.

Gov. Jim Justice learned this fact the hard way.

“Well, you know me, you’ve got to tell the truth,” the governor said Friday in response to a question about his banged up Chevy.

“I went to the Eastern Panhandle, went to Keyser and different places that day. You know I drive. But I couldn’t make it. I couldn’t get to Keyser and Martinsburg, Charles Town, Berkeley Springs and Moorefield all in the time frame from the standpoint that it was 10 o’clock the night before I got done the day before.

“So I flew to Keyser the next day on the state plane, but the State Police took my vehicle to Keyser that night. And when I got to Keyser then I drove. Well, when I got to Kaiser, I discovered the state policeman who was driving my vehicle to Keyser plowed into a deer along the way.”

The governor’s black Chevrolet sport utility vehicle was parked in front of the Capitol on Friday afternoon with clear damage to the front grill.

Gov. Jim Justice’s vehicle was damaged by a collision with a deer.

“My vehicle’s still got deer hair in the grill,” he said, adding that he’ll be paying for the repairs himself.

“My vehicle’s torn up a little bit. I’ll fix it on my dime, and that’s what’ll happen.”

Justice added that the collision was nearly avoided.

“He said his razor-sharp reflexes almost enabled him to miss the deer. And yet when I looked I thought ‘I’m not sure how sharp his reflexes were’ because it looked like he plowed it to tell you the truth.”

State Farm’s annual report on the odds of hitting a deer in your state just came out this week.

The odds were predictable in West Virginia, where drivers are accustomed to being at the top — both because of personal experience and due to the state’s annually predictable position.

State Farm presented some of its findings this year as on the bright side.

“WV continues to lead the nation in the likelihood of having an insurance claim involving a deer. However, their one out of every 43 drivers stat represents a 4.7 percent decrease from 2016.”

Justice referenced the report in his discussion of his own vehicle.

“You know, that’s one thing where we’re continually first in the nation is vehicular accidents with deer,” he said. “But we’ve got to find something else that we’re first in the nation in.”

Justice said he, himself, has not hit a deer before.

“It’s something we’re all aware of,” he said. “I’ve never hit a deer. I’ll probably plow into one for saying that tomorrow.

 





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