States Seek to Curb Deer-Related Crashes

Dead deer, such as this one is shown April 5, 2006, along a highway near Enning, S.D., are a common sight for motorists. Deer account for one out of every three crashes in the state and plague drivers across the nation. (AP Photo/Joe Kafka) (Joe Kafka - AP)

Only fencing and animal-detection systems like the one being tested in Minnesota have had much success in preventing road accidents involving large animals, said Marcel Huijser, a research ecologist for the Western Technical Institute at Montana State University.

Huijser, who studied more than 40 methods of reducing accidents involving deer, moose and elk, said fencing off areas of road where animal-related crashes frequently occur has been shown to reduce those accidents by 87 percent.

Special overpasses and underpasses can be built to allow animals to cross the roads, and although fence construction can be costly, society can benefit by the number of lives saved, he said.

"It's not hard to identify road sections that would generate a positive balance where not doing anything would result in greater costs to both society and monetarily than fencing," Huijser said.

Deer-related accidents aren't just a problem for rural areas. As cities and suburbs expand, deer are finding it harder to avoid busy roads.

In Pierre, the state capital with about 14,000 residents, officials are considering shooting some of the city's deer to keep roads safer for drivers.

Ed Rodgers, operations maintenance engineer for the South Dakota Transportation Department, said large electronic billboards will be used along interstates this fall to warn motorists to remain alert during deer mating and hunting seasons.

Some drivers attach special whistles to the fronts of their cars to warn deer to get out of their way. But the whistles are of little use and one frequency was actually more likely to cause accidents, according to a recent study by University of Georgia researchers.

Experts say the best ways to avoid deer on roads are slowing down at night and paying attention in areas where deer are commonly found.

Bruce Johnson, who owns a Pierre insurance agency, said deer-related accidents generally cause $3,000 to $5,000 in damage to vehicles. Most motorists escape injury in deer crashes, but not all, he said.

"We had a girl who received facial injuries when a deer come right through the windshield," he said.

Johnson said policyholders often say they could not avoid a deer or did not see it until it was too late.

"A lot of times they say, `I didn't hit the deer. It hit me,'" he said.