Conclusions from a multi-year Kent County study show outside interventions, such as warning signs or wildlife reflectors, hold little promise in reducing deer-vehicle collisions. The study was commissioned by the Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP) and conducted by White Water Associates, Inc.

Kent County was chosen based on its high number of deer-vehicle collisions, which is consistently the highest in the state. The study involved deer-vehicle collision data from 9 years (1992-2000), with the experimental portion running from 1998 to 2000. Additional time was needed to collect and analyze crash data to prepare the final report.

The project included an experimental study of "novel" seasonal deer collision warning signs on selected stretches of road and a trial of wildlife warning reflectors on other stretches of road.

"This study reinforces the challenge we face regarding the complex issue of reducing deer-vehicle collisions," said OHSP Division Director Michael L. Prince. "This information has been shared with the Michigan Deer Crash Coalition to assist with their ongoing efforts to reduce crashes."

A summary states: Neither the warning signs nor the wildlife reflectors showed any effects of reducing deer-vehicle crashes on the study roads. There may be situations or landscapes where these techniques can be effective, but in this particular landscape mixture of development and agriculture, the results were not promising, and certainly not cost effective.

The study did find that the probability of experiencing a deer-vehicle collision is higher on roads that pass near watercourses and on roads that traverse a patchwork of many land-use types, such as pasture, row crops, orchards, woods, residences, and wetlands.

White Water Associates studied four contiguous townships north of Grand Rapids: Algoma, Cannon, Courtland and Plainfield. These townships have experienced rapid growth in development, with increasing areas of formerly intact agricultural land subdivided into rural residences on small acre parcels.

Included in the experiment were special roadside reflectors. The premise of reflectors is that, properly installed and spaced, they reflect vehicle headlights to create a low-intensity moving beam of red light that serves as a deterrent to animal movement while it is present, without interfering with driver vision. Two six-mile stretches of road were selected based on a high number of deer-vehicle crashes.

The analysis showed no significant differences before and after using the reflectors.

In addition, two types of warning signs were installed in Algoma Township. These included 52 regular signs and 18 novel signs that included the wording "high crash area" with a picture of a deer and car on the sign.

Signs were installed on Oct. 1 and removed on Jan. 1 for three years, 1998-2000. There were no warning signs prior to this study. Further, traffic and speed recording devices were deployed before and after the warning signs were installed.

The analysis revealed the signs had no effect on the number of deer-vehicle crashes occurring in Algoma Township. And, no difference in speed was detected.