addressing deer vehicle accidents at the community scale elizabeth i. rogers, ph.d. dean b. premo,...
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Addressing Deer Vehicle Accidents at the Community Scale
Elizabeth I. Rogers, Ph.D.
Dean B. Premo, Ph.D.
White Water Associates, Inc.
Amasa, MI
Creating a Town Deer-Vehicle Accident Management Plan
Project Goals
• Use the existing GIS project to understand deer-vehicle accident patterns
• Create a deer-vehicle accident management plan
• Assess data collection and monitoring needs for the future
The starting point: Town GIS Project
• Town of Amherst, (roads, boundary)
• Land Use Layer (urban, suburban, and rural land uses)
• Deer-Vehicle Accident Management Zones
Town of Amherst, NY, Land Uses
The town has abundant open space that provides habitat for deer.
Multi-year record of DVA’s• DVAs 1991-2000
• Total: 3295 DVAs
• Raw data difficult (or impossible) to assess visually.
Deer Population Counts• Aerial late winter
counts by natural resource agency using visual polygons
• Displayed here as densities (standardized to area)
Population Counts by Year
• Highest population in 1994 before lethal control took effect [statistically significant]
• 625 deer killed by bait and shoot and nuisance permits (1994-1996)
• 2001 count higher than 1998 [statistically significant]
POPULATION COUNT
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1994 1995 1996
1997 1998 2001
Yearly Deer Population Counts
Population Densities by Management Zone
Before During After
Before, During, and After Lethal Control
When do most collisions occur?
• Time of Day?
• Month?
DVAs by Time of Day
• Most accidents occur in evening and night
NUMBER DVAs
0100200300400500600700800
EARLY MORNING MID-MORNING
AFTERNOON EVENING
NIGHT LATE NIGHT
DVAs by Time of Day
DVAs by Month• Highest number of
collisions occur in the fall and early winter
NUMBER OF DVAs
0100200300400500600700
JAN FEB MAR
APR MAY JUN
JUL AUG SEP
OCT NOV DEC
DVAs By Month
Nearly 1/2 of all collisions occur in the fall
Where do most collisions occur?
• In which parts of town?
• In relation to what features and land uses?
Density of DVA’s by Management Zone
More accidents in the rural parts of town where development and ample open space are intermixed.
DVA Density Correlations
+ Open land
+ Deer population
+ 45 mph roads
– Businesses
– Single residences
– 35 mph roads
– Road density
Examined by Management Zone
+ –
DVA Density within 1/4 Mile of Parks
To deer, all parks are not equal.
Even some small parks have a high density of DVAs nearby
DVA “Hot Spots” 1991-2000
Calculated DVAs/square mile (using density function in ArcView Spatial Analyst®)
Most accidents concentrate where development and open space interface.
“Hot Spots” and Land Uses
•Parks and open space may influence movement patterns
•High traffic volume also plays potential role.
•New development appears to exacerbate the problem
Detailed View of “Hot Spot”
A mixture of land uses typifies most “hot spots.”
Typical “Hot Spot” Land Uses
A mixture of land uses with about 50% open land and most of the rest developed
Typical Non - “Hot Spot” Land Uses
Areas without “hot spots” differ in land uses
They are dominated by development or by open land
MZ1
MZ3
MZ6
Effects of Lethal Control On “Hot Spots”Before After
Urban “Hot Spot”Combination of:
•Deer Habitat (green space, office parks, and vacant land)
•New development (displacing deer)
•High people density
DVA Management PlanINTEGRATED AND ADAPTIVE
TWO FOCI:Whole Town“Hot Spot”
THREE APPROACHES:Influence Human BehaviorInfluence Deer BehaviorAffect Deer Population
Support Management Actions with Data
•Avoid lawsuits
•Support environmental assessments
•Inform adaptive management plans
Use data to...
Whole Town Focus
• Public education (press releases, pamphlets, posters)
• Drivers’ education
• Enforce or enact “no deer feeding” laws
• Encourage use of nuisance permits
• If needed, enact professional lethal control
“Hot Spot” Focus
• Deploy seasonal warning signs
• Facilitate press and media coverage of sign deployment and “hot spots”
• Enforce speed limits in areas of “hot spots”
• Fence and/or improve roadside visibility with brushing at selected corridor “hot spots”
Management Zones Facilitate Implementation
Management ZoneDescription
Suggested Actions
Primarily developed Public educationMixture of open anddeveloped lands
Public education. Target “hot spots” with signage and
speed control Lethal control on nearby open lands
Mostly open land Public education Monitor area for “hot spots” Target “hot spots” with signage and
speed control Use of nuisance permits on
agricultural lands
“Hot Spot” Warning Sign• Novel sign
• Seasonally deployed during high crash period
• Deploy at selected “hot spots”
Sign from Kent County, MI
Challenges in Assessing Results
• Small sample sizes
• Lack of independence
• Variability in deployment sites
Difficulty in conducting statistical tests has been a perpetual problem in testing of warning reflectors
Information Wish List• DVA database for theme
GeoreferencedDriver data (age, gender)Time (24 hours, date)
• Road (type, speed limit)
• Land use (including potential deer habitat)
• Development locations
• Natural features (streams, lakes, hills)
• Deer population counts or estimates
Monitoring Suggestions• Need ongoing multi-year data on deer populations
and DVAs
• Summarize changes in patterns with GIS spatial analysis
• Visually examine changes in locations and intensities of “hot spots”
• Statistically test for significant changes in DVA and population numbers when possible
• Monitor health of vegetation in parks
Ultimate GoalTo coexist with deer
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