ICBC says highway drivers should be wary of encounters with wildlife.

Road safety coordinator Ingrid Brakop says between 2013 and 2017 there were 11,000 crashes in B.C. involving wildlife.

“Unfortunately its probably more common than you’d think,” she said. “Statistics that we have, these are collisions, these are not swerved to miss.”

“Our roads are going through mountain peaks and valley bottoms, and there’s lots of critters on our roadways.”

Two people died on the Coquihalla in 2017 near Lac Le Jeune after hitting a deer.

More recently, a fatal rollover on the Coquihalla near Kamloops last weekend, was believed to be caused by the driver swerving to avoid a deer.

“If you’re driving at dusk or dawn, be very aware of your surroundings,” Brakop added. “Where there is one ungulate – so a deer or a moose – there may be more than one.”

“If you’ve driven in BC, I’m sure people have encountered wildlife on the side of the road, and it can be very unnerving.”