STATEWIDE AND UPPER MIDWEST SUMMARY OF DEER-VEHICLE CRASH AND RELATED DATA FROM 1993 TO 2003:
Minnesota Data
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This
report used only a portion of the data available from Minnesota.
To view all Minnesota data, including
the most recent data available, please
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Minnesota
Data Summary
From
1993 to 2002 the average percentage of all crashes reported in Minnesota
that were DVCs was approximately 5.6 percent. The annual total number
of reported DVCs decreased from 1993 to 1997, but increased somewhat from
that year to 2002. The total number of injuries and fatalities due to
DVCs, although variable, also increased. Deer are the third most commonly
hit object behind striking another vehicle and striking a fixed object
in Minnesota (3). An evaluation of the Minnesota DVC-related data showed
the following general patterns:
•
The annual total number of crashes reported and summarized in Minnesota
has fluctuated but been generally stable from 1993 to 2002 (See Figure
1). The total annual number of reported crashes was greatest in 1996 at
105,332, but only 92,926 in 1998. The AVMT in Minnesota has consistently
increased during the study time period (See Figure 2).
• There was a decreasing trend in the annual number of DVCs reported
in Minnesota from 1993 to 1997, and then an increasing trend from 1997
to 2002 (See Figure 3). The percentage of total crashes represented by
DVCs followed a similar pattern. It decreased from 6.5 percent in 1993
to 4.7 percent in 1996, but then increased to 5.9 percent in 2002 (See
Figure 4).
• The annual number of fatalities due to DVCs ranged from 1 to 5
between 1993 and 2002. There were a total of 26 DVC fatalities during
these 10 years. The annual number of injuries and fatalities due to DVCs
has increased from 353 in 1993 to 528 in 2002 (an increase of 49.6 percent).
Only fatality crashes were summarized in 2003 and there were also 5 DVC
fatalities during that year.
• Similar to the number of DVCs reported, the DVC rate (i.e., the
number of DVCs per HMVMT) decreased from 1993 to 1997. However, this safety
measure has been relatively stable from 1997 to 2002 (ranging from 10.1
DVCs per HMVMT to 11.0 DVCs per HMVMT). Overall, from 1993 to 2002, the
Minnesota DVC rate peaked at 15.4 DVCs per HMVMT in 1993 and was at a
minimum of 10.1 DVCs per HMVMT in 2000.
• Minnesota also provided annual deer population estimates from
1994 to 2003 and annual carcass removal numbers from 1993 to 2003 (excluding
1995 due to questions about its validity). Figure 7 shows that the annual
deer population estimates have generally increased from 1,004,000 in 1994
to 1,253,000 in 2003 (a 24.8 percent increase). The number of carcasses
removed from the roadside, on the other hand, averaged about 2.5 times
the number of DVCs reported annually in 1993 and 1994 (when the Minneapolis/St.
Paul area maintenance removals were included in the data). This measure
averaged about 2.1 from 1996 to 2002 (when the Minneapolis/St. Paul area
maintenance removals were not included in the data). The differences between
the roadside carcass removal data provided by Minnesota and the reported
number of DVCs are shown in Figure 8.
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FIGURE
1 Total crashes reported in Minnesota (1993 to 2002).
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FIGURE 2 Annual vehicle-miles-traveled in Minnesota (1993 to 2002). |
|
FIGURE
3 Reported deer-vehicle crashes in Minnesota (1993 to 2002).
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FIGURE
4 Percent deer-vehicle crashes in Minnesota (1993 to 2002). |
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FIGURE 5 Number of deer-vehicle crash fatalities and injuries in Minnesota (1993 to 2002).
|
FIGURE
6 Deer-vehicle crash rate per 100 million vehicle-miles-traveled
in Minnesota (1993 to 2002). |
|
FIGURE
7 Pre-hunt deer population estimates and deer-vehicle crashes in
Minnesota (1994 to 2003). |
FIGURE
8 Roadside carcass removals and reported deer-vehicle crashes in
Minnesota (1993 to 2003). |
This
report used only a portion of the data available from Minnesota.
To view all available Minnesota data, please CLICK
HERE.