A new California law paves the way for drivers to carry home and eat the animals they may accidentally kill with their vehicles. The new Wildlife Traffic Safety Act was one of many bills signed into law at the end of a recent legislative session, following in the footsteps of similar laws in states like Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Currently in California, it’s illegal for anyone except a state authority to collect or “salvage” animals like deer and elk killed in the roadway.

SB 395 was proposed by State Senator Bob Archuleta of Orange and LA counties. It primarily sets up a pilot program in three yet-to-be-determined parts of the state to track vehicle collisions with wildlife. UC Davis studies estimate that more than 20,000 deer are killed on California roadways, but the numbers for other animals aren’t known.

“This potentially translates into hundreds of thousands of pounds of healthy meat that could be used to feed those in need,” the law argues.