CHAPEL HILL - Motor-vehicles crashes involving deer hit a record high in North Carolina last year, accounting for nearly one in 10 automobile crashes.

A new UNC Chapel Hill study found that crashes reported to police involving deer last year on roadways in the state increased to 19,693, up from 19,277 in 2007, according to a news release.

In that same period, total reported crashes of any kind fell from 224,307 in 2007 to 214,358 in 2008.

Of the total reported automobile crashes in North Carolina in 2008, deer were cited as a factor in 9.2 percent, up from 8.6 percent in 2007. Wake County topped the list with 1,084 crashes.

From staff reports