State Farm: Deer-Related Car Crashes Up 21%

When it comes to the likelihood of striking a deer with your car, West Virginia motorists once again find themselves atop an unfortunate list.

Drivers licensed in West Virginia have a 1-in-42 chance of striking a deer within the next 12 months, according to an annual analysis conducted by State Farm. That's slightly better than the 1-in-39 chance listed for that state a year ago, but still marks West Virginia's fourth straight year at number one.

In an odd twist, State Farm's analysis revealed that while U.S. motorists drove only 2% more miles over a preceding five-year period, the number of deer vehicle collisions jumped 21.1%.

"Common sense tells you there are either more deer in the roadways, or we're not doing as good a job as we used to do avoiding the deer in the roadways," State Farm spokesman Dick Luedke said. "It may be a combination of both. I wouldn't presume to think we know for sure."

Luedke said State Farm's goal is to increase awareness of the issue as days shorten and deer become more active in mating season. The Bloomington, Ill.-based mutual insurer factored its own deer-collision data against market share and driver license statistics before extrapolating the likelihood data.

Pennsylvania had the largest number of projected deer vehicle collisions for the next 12 months at 102,165. Yet based on the Keystone State's number of licensed drivers, motorists have a 1-in-84 chance of striking a deer in the next 12 months. Pennsylvania ranked sixth behind West Virginia, Iowa, Michigan, South Dakota and Montana.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, there were 182 fatalities that resulted from animal-related collisions in 2009, down 13% from 2008. Institute spokesperson Russ Rader said those collisions don't specify the type of animal, but past research indicates that most of those fatalities are deer-related.

The average property damage cost of deer-related accidents was $3,103, up 1.7% from a year ago, according to State Farm.

Last year, the Insurance Information Institute placed the annual costs for deer-related collisions at $4.6 billion. That included $3.6 billion for vehicle-related damage and $1 billion for medical payments and out-of-pocket costs for vehicle owners.

Fremont Michigan InsuraCorp issued a warning similar to State Farm's recently, noting deer-related wrecks in Michigan increased 6% last year. The company said on average, a deer-car crash occurs every six minutes in the state. That's the result of 60,000 annual incidents that cause $130 million in damage, 1,700 injuries and nine fatalities.

That's a far cry from Hawaii, where drivers have a 1-in-13,011 chance of hitting a deer in the next year. State Farm said those odds are roughly the same as finding a pearl in an oyster shell.

State Farm Group currently has a Best's Financial Strength Rating of A++ (Superior).

Fremont Insurance Co. has a current Best's Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent).

(By Al Slavin, senior associate editor, BestWeek)