Addressing Deer-Vehicle Accidents with an Ecological Landscape GIS Approach
Land use patterns form the backdrop for overlays of car-deer accidents (blue dots) in
Plainfield, a Kent County township.
The problem of highway accidents involving animals is a nationwide and worldwide
concern. In Michigan, property damage to vehicles, human injuries and fatalities, and
potential reductions of local deer populations result from vehicle collisions involving
white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Deer-vehicle crashes in 1996 numbered
over 68,000, showing an annual increase each of the past several years, according to
Michigan State Police Crash Statistics. Kent County has had a consistently higher number
of deer accidents than any other county in Michigan, with 2,223 in 1996.
In order to ameliorate this growing problem, the Kent County Deer-Vehicle Accident
Reduction Study was undertaken (Hindelang and Premo 1997). This study represents action
toward implementing recommendations delineated by a report prepared for Michigan
Department of Transportation, Investigating Methods to Reduce Deer-Vehicle Accidents in
Michigan (Premo and Premo 1995).
As identified in that 1995 report and by a subsequent review of the most recent
literature, deer road-kills have increased in most states where suitable trend data are
available for analysis. Nearly all states have used some type of mitigation including
signs, modified speed limits, fencing, over- and underpasses, reflective apparatus,
habitat alteration, or public awareness programs. Despite this, few have done objective,
systematic evaluations of the efficacy of those techniques. It is clear that the problem
of deer-vehicle accidents is far from being adequately addressed.
Our study is taking an ecological landscape perspective of the interface of human
population density and activity with deer population density and activity. Using
information gathered from the Kent County Road Commission, Michigan Department of State
Police Office of Highway Safety Planning, Grand Valley State University Water Resources
Institute, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and the current literature, we have
the capability of identifying temporal and spatial patterns of deer-vehicle collisions at
the landscape level in Kent County. These data will enable us to create predictive models
of high risk areas for deer-vehicle collisions and identify areas of focus where accidents
could be significantly reduced. Specific locations of deer-vehicle collisions have been
incorporated as a thematic layer into an ArcViewTM software based
geographic information system (GIS).
Designing successful accident reduction techniques requires understanding deer and
human movement patterns and behaviors. Our efforts will more closely examine deer behavior
and habitat use in areas of high deer-vehicle collisions interfaced with examination of
changes in human population density and road use. Analysis of land use/land cover,
topography, vegetation, roadways, waterways, and recent development will illuminate
site-specific characteristics for which particular mitigative techniques or combinations
of techniques are appropriate.
Interactions between people and white-tailed deer are increasing in Kent County as
populations of both deer and humans are on the rise. As humans move into historic deer
habitat and deer invade human-dominated landscapes, conflicts are more likely to occur.
Using the information gathered from the analysis and synthesis of data, high risk
locations will be identified for intensive public awareness efforts to reduce accidents.
