1. Reducing Deer Vehicle Collisions: What Works and What Does Not
Gwen Curtis
Jim Hedlund
Alan Williams
Paul Curtis
Highway Safety North
Insurance Institute
For Highway Safety
Cornell University

2. Paper
Summary
Bambi
Unmasked
Conclusions

3. Deer-Vehicle Collisions (DVCs)
Today
.75 mil (est) mil (est)
Only 20-50% of accidents may be reported
At $2,000/accident reported, total insurance payout = $1.1 billion

4. 150+ Human Fatalities per year

5. Bells and Whistles
…Don’t Work!

6. Reflector Devices
…Mixed Results

7. Wildlife Overpass
National Park
Canada

8. Green Bridge
Switzerland

9. Deer Ecology
Habitat
Population
Trends

13. Problems Caused by Deer Overpopulation

14. Deer Population Trend NY 20,000 1+ million US 500,000 30 million
Today
NY , million
US , million

15. Seasonal Trends in DVCs

17. Unmasking Bambi:
What are the Real Issues?

27. Can we change deer behavior?

28. How Do We Change Driver Education?
Emphasize Deer Behavior
October to December Peak
Greatest movement dawn and dusk
Deer have habitual crossways
Deer travel in social groups

30. How Can We Change Road Signs?

31. Can We Improve Vehicles?

33. Underpass with Deer Fence

34. Box Culvert Underpass

35. Grates Combined with Fencing