A teenager from Kershaw, S.C., died Saturday when he swerved his car to avoid hitting a deer and struck a utility pole.

On back-to-back mornings last week, deer ran into major Charlotte thoroughfares - East Independence Boulevard last Monday, then South Tryon Street on Tuesday - and collided with cars.

Unlike the Kershaw crash, there were no serious injuries in the Charlotte collisions.

But police and wildlife experts say deer and motorists are colliding with increasing frequency, causing 17 deaths and 3,453 injuries in North Carolina over the last three years.

And when it comes to deer, Mecklenburg and Union counties are Collision Central in the Southern Piedmont.

"Deer are constantly on the move at this time of year, especially in densely populated areas," says Kevin Lacy, director of mobility and safety for the N.C. Department of Transportation.

Wake County has led the state in the number of deer-vehicle collisions for 10 straight years, and the most dangerous counties are mostly in the center of the state. But Mecklenburg, 11th in animal collisions over the past three years, and Union County, at 13th, are far ahead of the next-highest county in the Charlotte region (Cleveland, which is 29th).

The National Highway Safety Administration says deer-vehicle collisions cause about 150 human deaths each year and cost about $1.1 billion.

On Saturday, 19-year-old Otis Clyburn Jr. was driving east on North Taxahaw Road, five miles north of Jefferson, about 10 a.m., when the vehicle swerved to the right off the road to avoid hitting a deer and struck a utility pole, said S.C. Highway Patrol Trooper Scot Edgeworth.

Wildlife experts say the deer are mostly likely to be on the move in the evening and again shortly before daybreak - in other words, when it's dark.

Authorities have two pieces of advice for motorists, when it comes to deer:

Slow down in posted deer crossing area and heavily wooded locations.

If a deer collision is imminent, don't try swerving out of the way. Hitting the deer is better than the alternatives - going off the road and possibly hitting a tree or other deadly barrier - as happened in Saturday's accident - or going into oncoming traffic and risking a head-on crash.

State officials say studies have shown that the majority of deer-vehicle collisions happen from October to December, mostly between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m. And, they add, deer populations are growing in urban areas.

"I saw a deer in Windsor Park about a year ago," said Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Sgt. Christian Wagner, who oversees patrols in a portion of the Eastway Division, an urban area of east and northeast Charlotte.

Experts say deer need only small wooded areas to live. They hide in the woods during the day and rummage through residential flower beds overnight.

Insurance company officials say comprehensive insurance will pay the damage for deer-vehicle collisions, although many owners drop the comprehensive coverage on older vehicles. Equally important, they say, is driving strategy - many insurance companies will charge a deductible if a driver goes off the road and damages the vehicle while trying to avoid hitting a deer; while a direct hit often does not include a deductible charge.

Wagner says he had direct experiences with deer when he was a police officer in Kitty Hawk, on the Outer Banks. He was unable to avoid hitting a deer one time, and the second collision happened when the deer ran into his patrol car.

"The fact is, they are unpredictable," he says. "If you see one on the side of the road, slow down. And when you see one, there are likely to be others, so be careful."