Car-Animal Crash Deaths Increasing On Pa. Roads

Study Ranks State 3rd In Fatal Accidents

POSTED: 12:05 am EDT October 30, 2008
UPDATED: 7:51 am EDT October 31, 2008

PITTSBURGH -- Pennsylvania has the third-largest number of people killed from traffic accidents involving deer and other animals.

A study by an auto insurance-funded highway safety group says 112 people have been killed from crashes with animals since 1993. The only states with more crashes over the last 15 years are Texas with 227 and Wisconsin with 123.

“In 2007, the number of people killed was the highest this decade, 50 percent higher than in 2000,” said Anne McCartt of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The Highway Loss Data Institute and its sister organization, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, looked at insurance claims and federal crash data. According to the report, most accidents involving animals are with deer.

"Urban sprawl means suburbia and deer habitat intersect in many parts of the country. If you're driving in areas where deer are prevalent, the caution flag is out, especially in November,” said Kim Hazelbaker, the Highway Loss Data Institute's senior vice president “What we found was that the pattern of crashes is exactly the same every year. They spike in November, coinciding with the breeding season for deer."

Anyone who has hit a deer while driving usually has a similar experience to the one Helen Wilkins said she had.

"It happened so quickly. I wasn't going that fast, and before I knew it, it was right there. I couldn't do anything to avoid it," she told WTAE Channel 4 Action News reporter Jon Greiner.

She said she crashed into a deer in broad daylight on a rural Westmoreland County road.

"I mean, that's why I was on that road before it got dark -- because I was nervous about deer being out there," she said. "It didn't make a difference."

According to the report, a total of 2,500 Pennsylvanians were in a vehicle-deer crash last year. Though most weren't seriously injured, the report said many were hit in the pocket book.

If a driver has comprehensive insurance, repairs caused by deer are usually paid for. But if the driver swerves to miss a deer and crashes into something else, it is considered a collision, and the driver usually has to pay for at least part of it, the report said.

Kevin Kalia said he and his wife spent $500 after his wife hit a deer.

"Most of the damage ended up coming from the guardrail. My wife's not completely sure she hit the deer first, or maybe it even jumped and got away before she ran into it," Kalia said.

The Kalias don't have rental car coverage, so they'll be without the vehicle for a few weeks. Another discovery added to their problems.

"We called, and it went back and forth, but as we discovered, our insurance rates are going to go up," he said.

The study found that insurance claims for crashes with animals is three times higher in November than it is from January to September.

"The months with the most crash deaths coincide with fall breeding season," said Anne McCartt, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's senior vice president for research.

The Governors Highway Safety Association cautioned that the numbers need to be looked at in context, citing more than 12,000 drunk driving deaths each year.

"Deer crashes are a small highway safety problem in terms of total deaths," said the group's spokesman, Jonathan Adkins. "This problem is perceived to be a lot more common than the reality."

Adkins said there are no proven countermeasures, other than fencing, "which is extremely expensive and not practical. Our message to motorists is to slow down, particularly at dusk and on rural roads."

In a 2004 study, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that fencing, combined with underpasses and overpasses, can be an effective way to prevent deer-vehicles crashes.

As to the size of the problem, McCartt said, "I agree that the number doesn't compare to the number of people killed in alcohol-related crashes, but it is going up. We're not suggesting it's of the same magnitude, but they do result in injuries and death."

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