Police agencies in Fayette County are having accidents--dozens of them so far this year.

But it's not because of too many high-speed chases or lack of training for officers. Police and sheriff's patrol cars are crashing with regularity into members of Fayette's large and robust deer population.

"One of our officers was coming to work about a month ago, and hit a deer north-bound on 85," recalls Capt. Steve Ledbetter of the Fayetteville Police Department. "It went through her windshield. She was very lucky."

The officer wasn't badly hurt, but many people are when they run into deer, according to county animal control officer Bill Newman.

"They can do some damage," said Newman.

Encounters with deer are increasing, he said, because Fayette's human population is increasing so rapidly. Construction reduces their habitat and the deer are on the move more, and because there are so many people around, the deer are losing their fear.

"With all the building and everything, they have gotten used to people," he said. "They'll be standing on the side of the road eating and when a car approaches they just raise their heads and then go back to eating. All these new subdivisions with the new, tender grass... they love that," Newman added.

Deer damaged six patrol cars in Fayetteville since January, said Ledbetter.

The Sheriff's Department recorded 258 accidents involving deer during 1997, including four involving patrol cars, according to Lt. Rodney Bennett of the traffic division. "We're probably in the top five [counties for deer-related accidents] in Georgia, or at least in the top ten," said Bennett.

So far in 1998, sheriff's cars have hit two more deer, he added.

Sheriff Randall Johnson pointed out that the heavy season for such accidents is coming up. "From the first of November into December they're in full rut and they're on the move. We'll probably work three or four deer wrecks a night" during the height of rutting season, he said.

Tyrone residents run into two or three deer a week, said Chief Roger Spencer, mostly along Ga. Highway 74, Dogwood Trail and Castlewood Road. "So far this year none of those have been police cars," he said, adding he won't be surprised if police run into a deer or two during rutting season.

Peachtree City residents also occasionally run into deer, said Chief Jim Murray, but the Police Department has had only two such accidents in nine years since police started using deer whistles with regularity, he said.

"If you talk to the experts, they'll say [deer whistles] don't work," said Murray. "But that hasn't been our experience. It's the best $2 investment we make," he said, adding that damage from deer collisions averages about $2,000.

The whistles, mounted in the grill of a car, emit a high-pitched sound that theoretically alerts deer to an approaching car so the animals won't run out into the road.

Spencer said Tyrone tried the whistles some years ago, but "every car with a whistle got hit. We took the whistles off the cars a couple years ago," he said.

Johnson said his department has used whistles with mixed results, but with the deer population getting larger and more mobile, they may go back to the practice.