Deer–Vehicle Collisions in the UK : Deer–Vehicle Collisions in the UK : A nationwide issue A nationwide issue

Dr Jochen Langbein

UK CMA Insurance meeting , Milton Keynes, 2006

P r e l i m i n a r y f i n d i n g s

yet general estimates suggest that wild large mammals killed on

roads in Britain every year include around : • 100,000 Foxes ; • 50,000 Badgers

• 45,000 Deer

Public / Media in UK still mostly viewAnimal-Vehicle collisions as

”Freak accidents”

“Biker dies in freak collision on A24” – West Sussex- BBC News 4 June 2006

DRIVER KILLED BY FLYING DEER ….in “freak” accident on A35, Hampshire (Daily Mirror 28 / 11 / 2006)

In Unites States Deer-Vehicle Collisions are now widely recognised as a major Insurance risk

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety report for 2005 estimates :

1,500,000 deer-vehicle collisions per annum in US

150 human fatalities

$1.1 billion in property damage

State Farm Insurance alone showed 192,877 deer-related motor claims last year; up 6% (10,000) on previous 12 month period

- The top ten ranked States contributed 51% of claims

- and here DVCs make up 5% - 17% of all motor crash claims !

Where figures ARE available for European countries also suggest

(based on Road Kill data from 8 countries with available records Including among others :

Germany : 120,000 roe; 6500 wild boar; 2800 red & fallow; Sweden: 50,000 roe; 4000 moose; Austria: 35,000 roe; 400 red deer ; 150 boarDenmark: 10,000 roe; 100 red deer

• Over 500,000 collisions with ungulates in Europe (excluding Russia) ever year

• Resulting in 300 people killed• 30,000 people injured• $ 1,000,000,000 material damage

Deer-Collisions Project 2003-2007 - main aims :

to build for the first time a National Database of Road Traffic Collisions involving Deer in Britain

assess accident factors, and related aspects of deer behaviour and management

identify accident hot-spots

Initiate studies of effectiveness of differing measures aimed at preventing such accidents

DVC records received

Data Source Categories

2000 to 2005

Jan. 2003 - Dec. 2005

ST Road Accident Statistics Departments 1479 680

U Carcase Clearance / Up-lifts 6541 4066

IC Motor Insurance Claims (via 1 company ,FORTIS GP, only)

2013 770

D ‘Deer-knowledgeable’ contributors 6560 3210

R Animal Welfare / Rescue 9700 3466

P Police Control Call Rooms 2186 1294

G General Public contributors (incl. via web-site) 1069 666 TOTAL: 29548 19254

(those reported to the project are still likely to represent <20% of all DVCs occurring; level of duplicate reporting of incidents on same date / county is < 5%)

Data Source Categories

ST Road Accident Statistics Departments (Regional Police Forces ; and/or Council Road Safety teams)

U Carcase Clearance / Up-lifts (e.g. recorded by Trunk Road Maintenance Agents [UT]; or Local Authority Departments [UC] )

IC Motor Insurance Claims Departments ; Motoring Roadside Rescue Companies ; major Nationwide Car hire firms.

D ‘Deer-knowledgeable’ contributors : e.g. Wildlife managers / gamekeepers for major landholding organisations (e.g. Forestry Commission, MOD, National Trust); ANDIndependent Deer Managers / Stalkers; members of BDS, BASC, DCS; Ecological Consultants; Mammal Recorders and Researchers.

R Animal Welfare/Rescue: RSPCA / SSPCA / Vets / Wildlife Rescue Centres

P Police Control Call Rooms & Wildlife Liaison Officers (for logs of any calls relating to deer / vehicle incidents)

G General Public (via web-site, email or direct contact)

Please report ALL Deer/Vehicle collisions or dead deer seen at roadsides

between 2003 to 2007

either on-line to: www.deercollisions.co.uk

orinfo@deercollisions.co.uk

Total 16,519 DVC records 2003-5 plotted

Traffic by Country & Region: 2004 ( Billion Vehicle Kilometers driven )

Scotland 42.5

Wales 27.3

England 428.8of which:South East 86.6London 32.7North West 56.6East of England 55.1West Midlands 48.6South West 47.1Yorks&Humbers. 41.6East Midlands 40.7North East 19.9

Source: National RoadTraffic Survey, DfT.

Only 18% of all Deer Collisions reported are in Scotland ...

BUT occur within <10% of all traffic; therefore ‘risk’ of hitting a deer per mile driven doubles !

Relative frequency of recorded DVCs in 2003+2004 in southern England; replotted at finer scale for nos. incidents per 5 km by 5 km OS grid square.

Motor Claims

• Fortis Ins. Ltd• 4.25 % market share• c. 1.3 Million private policies

• For 2003 + 2004 : • Tot claims 252,709

which included:

• 776 with Deer (0.31 %)

• 167 with Foxes• 123 with Badgers

Fortis ‘deer’ related claims 1999 to 2004

Likely number of significantly damaged vehicles

(i.e. above Insurance excess)

Using sample from Fortis Group Insurance claims data(i.e. based on claims arising from their c. 1.3 million private motor polices , equiv. to c. 4.25 % market share)

for extrapolation to Great Britain suggests approx:

10,700 ‘deer-related’ motor claims per year

@ avg. cost £1320 = £ 13.9 Million in GB

of which c. 18.5 % in Scotland = 2.57 M

Among c. 45,000 deer injured or killed in vehicle Among c. 45,000 deer injured or killed in vehicle collisions, near 500 of these lead to human injury in the collisions, near 500 of these lead to human injury in the

UK every year. UK every year.

Cost to Economy?

‘Deer Collisions contribute around 50% of all human injury RTAs involving ‘wild’ mammals; and around 23% overall among all animal (wild or domestic) related vehicle accidents. (Sample data for PIAs from 14 English Counties in 1999-2003)

Animal Nos. Number of Casualties %

Type Injury RTAs Slight KSI

Total age

Wild Mammals (Killed or Seriously

injured) Deer 292 309 63 372 48% Badger 52 58 11 69 9% Fox 123 127 18 145 19% Rabbit/Hare 127 151 18 169 22% Others 9 16 1 17 2% Total 603 661 111 772 100% Birds and Domesticated mammals Pheasants 87 81 5 86 12% Other Bird 47 71 2 73 10% Horse/Pony 222 258 35 293 41% Cows 83 100 14 114 16% Sheep 29 40 2 42 6% Cats 90 105 4 109 15% Total 558 655 62 717 100% Non-Specific 'Animal' in road 292 349 32 381 Overall Total 1453 1665 205 1870

Average ‘Value of Prevention’

per Injury accident by severity

(UK Highways Economic Note 1: 2003 values)• Fatal accident : £ 1,492,000• Seriously Injured: £ 174,500• Slightly injured: £ 17,500

Ave. per PIA incident: Ave. per PIA incident: £ 61,120£ 61,120

Value of Prevention of animal related human injuryhuman injury RTAs (@ mean £61,000 per incident)

c. 500 with Deer alone = > £ 30, 000, 000 per annum

All Animal related = > £ 130 Million per annumPersonal injury RTAs

Summary Deer RTA “Costs”

• Animal Welfare – Deer Killed / Injured c. 46,000 (+/- 9000),

• Vehicle damage (conservative estimate from private policies)

c. £ 14 Million in GB

• Human Injuries … c. 500 per annum @ economic cost > £ 30 M

• Other cost includeOther cost includeLive injured deer dispatch / rescueLive injured deer dispatch / rescueCarcass collection / disposal Carcass collection / disposal Traffic delays Traffic delays

How can Insurers help ?• Insurance sector is potentially the Key source for provision of well

stratified information on true scale , distribution and costs; - but so far have good info from only one company.

• Insurance, taken together with ST19 human injury monitoring, presents most promising manner for consistent long term monitoring of changes - but we need to extend sample to wider range of companies

• Only basic records are needed per incident:- Date - Location (road number / county / nearest town or village / grid?), - Brief description (one line, if available ; e.g. Insured swerved to

avoid deer, hit tree).

• If not possible to retrieve ‘deer’ incidents from claims database – then even total number of ‘animal related’ motor claims per year are also of interest.

Insurers may also be able to help raise public awareness of the risk of deer-vehicle

collisions and how to avoid them e.g. : Advice Drivers toTake note of signs !

Beware that deer often travel in groups

Heightened risk in areas through or near to woodland.

Highest risk times dusk to midnight, and around dawn

Also DVCs peak during May and October to December

Don’t overswerve to avoid

Dip main beam if deer on road ahead to avoid them ‘freezing’

Further details see www.deercollisions.co.uk / avoidance