Deer vs. car: How your state ranks

This post comes from Des Toups at partner site CarInsurance.com.

If you're a West Virginia driver, there's a 1 in 40 chance you'll strike a deer in the next 12 months, according to data gathered by State Farm.

The company released its annual tally of deer-car collisions Tuesday.

You're safest in Hawaii, where the odds of a collision are 1 in 6,801 -- approximately the chances of being struck by lightning, the insurance company notes.

For the year ending June 30, the company projects 1.23 million collisions, one for every 171 drivers in the U.S. That's a 7.7% increase over the prior year.

The average deer-collision claim was $3,305, the insurer said. Of course, you're covered only if you've bought comprehensive insurance.

The 10 states with the highest chances of a deer collision are:

You can see the 50-state list and tips for avoiding this hooved menace here. 

More than 18% of all deer strikes occur in November, State Farm said, with October and December ranking second and third.

The company said deer-related claims rose 7.9% over the last four years even as claims overall declined 8.5%.

"We have known for quite a while that the frequency of auto insurance claims has been declining," said Chris Mullen, director of technology research. "But whatever is causing that trend is obviously not impacting deer-related crashes."

More from CarInsurance.com and MSN Money:

• 7 gotchas of cheap car insurance
• What is full coverage?
• When to drop collision and comprehensive
• Do higher deductibles save money?
• When to pay more for insurance