Deer-vehicle crashes: Extensive peak at 1 hour after sunset
Section snippets
Methods
The original database was compiled by the Finnish National Road Administration and consisted of 21,887 DVCs that occurred in Finland between 1989 and 1997. The crash data included, among other variables, the exact time of the event, exact location, and an indication of the deer species (either a moose or “other deer”) reported by the police. As the damage resulting from a collision with a deer is partially compensated for by the state, the coverage of the DVC data is estimated to be high,
Results
Figure 2 presents the distribution of DVCs at the time of sunset and sunrise in the southwestern study area. The number of crashes increases sharply approximately 1 to 2 hours before sunset and peaks, throughout the year, at 1 hour after sunset for both species of deer. In the southwestern study area, 46% of the moose-vehicle crashes and 37% of the crashes involving white-tailed deer occurred during the first 3 hours after sunset. The proportion of the crashes taking place during this 3-hour
Discussion
Our analyses showed that the DVCs were highly concentrated in the first 2 to 3 hours after sunset and, more remarkably, that the variation in the crash rate was extensive even within this relatively short period. This extraordinary phenomenon is apparently an outcome of several factors directly and indirectly related to sunset that affect both the quantity and quality of the encounters between deer and motor vehicles.
Obviously, increasing darkness affects the driver’s ability to detect a deer
Conclusions
These results show that a large proportion of DVCs occur just after sunset. Such high concentration of crashes—a “black spot”34—makes countermeasures focused on reducing the peak more cost effective and thus more practical both for society and for individual road users. Drivers can reduce crash risk and especially the risk of serious consequences by lowering their speed11 and by keeping alert for deer during the relatively short period of the peak.35 Knowledge of the high-risk period should
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Juhani Mänttäri, Finnish National Road Administration; Tuire and Kaarlo Nygrén, Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute; and Reijo Orava, Finnish Hunters’ Central Organization for contributing their knowledge and ideas. This research was supported by the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications.
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