How to prevent white-tailed deer crashes

Finland's white-tailed deer population has more than doubled in the last ten years. At the same time, the number of white-tailed deer crashes has also increased. The annual number of crashes has been more than 6,000 for the past five years. Most crashes occur in the areas of Varsinais-Suomen, Satakunta, Uudenmaa, Häme and Pirkanmaa ELY centers. The starting point of the research is to find out the dependence of the environmental characteristics of the crash sites and the crash risk. For this purpose, a statistical model will be built in which the crash risk is explained by the structure of the surrounding landscape and the available food, road characteristics, road environment structures, preventive measures, weather conditions and the density of the deer population. The model will be used to create a crash risk map. In addition, the effectiveness of various expulsion and protection methods in preventing crashes near highways is tested and studied.