UK CMA Insurance meeting Milton Keynes 2006 DeerVehicle

UK CMA Insurance meeting , Milton Keynes, 2006 Deer–Vehicle Collisions in the UK : A nationwide issue Dr Jochen Langbein Preliminary f indings [Deercollisions. co. uk - Preliminary findings - J Langbein]

Public / Media in UK still mostly view Animal-Vehicle collisions as ”Freak accidents” “Biker dies in freak collision on A 24” – West Sussex- BBC News 4 June 2006 DRIVER KILLED BY FLYING DEER …. in “freak” accident on A 35, Hampshire (Daily Mirror 28 / 11 / 2006) 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 :

Ø 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 Ø 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 • Over 500, 000 collisions with ungulates in Europe (excluding Russia) ever year • Resulting in 300 people killed • 30, 000 people injured • $ 1, 000, 000 material damage (based on Road Kill data from 8 countries with available records Including among others : Germany : Sweden: Austria: Denmark: 120, 000 roe; 6500 wild boar; 2800 red & fallow; 50, 000 roe; 4000 moose; 35, 000 roe; 400 red deer ; 150 boar 10, 000 roe; 100 red deer

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 2000 to 2005 Data Source Categories 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 29548 19254 TOTAL: (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 Please report. Council ALL Deer/Vehicle Forces ; and/or Road Safety collisions teams) U dead deer seen at roadsides Carcaseor. Clearance / Up-lifts (e. g. recorded by Trunk between 2003[UT]; to 2007 Road Maintenance Agents or Local Authority Departments [UC] ) either on-line to: Motor Insurance Claims Departments ; Motoring IC D Roadsidewww. deercollisions. co. uk Rescue Companies ; major Nationwide Car hire firms. or ‘Deer-knowledgeable’ contributors : info@deercollisions. co. uk e. g. Wildlife managers / gamekeepers for major landholding organisations (e. g. Forestry Commission, MOD, National Trust); AND Independent 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)

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 ! Total 16, 519 DVC records 2003 -5 plotted

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.

Fortis ‘deer’ related claims 1999 to 2004 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

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 collisions, near 500 of these lead to human injury in the 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)

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: £ 61, 120 Value of Prevention of animal related human injury RTAs (@ mean £ 61, 000 per incident) c. 500 with Deer alone All Animal related Personal injury RTAs = > £ 30, 000 per annum = > £ 130 Million per annum

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 include Live injured deer dispatch / rescue Carcass collection / disposal 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 ST 19 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 to Take 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 [Deercollisions. co. uk - Preliminary findings - J Langbein] / avoidance www. deercollisions. co. uk