In the continuing effort to reduce the number of collisions between deer and vehicles, a symposium, headed up by the director of the Deer-Vehicle Crash Information and Research Center (DVCIR Center) at TTI, Keith Knapp, was held at the New York State Department of Transportation in Schenectady.
Nationwide there are an estimated one million deer-vehicle crashes every year, which account for about $1 billion in damage.
The speakers for the symposium included Knapp, Mary Gray of the Federal Highway Administration, Patricia White of the Defenders of Wildlife, Patricia Cramer of Utah State University, Marcel Huijser of the Western Transportation Institute and David Jared of the Georgia Department of Transportation.
In addition to the speakers, members of the DVCIR Center Pooled Fund Project attended the symposium. The pooled fund is made up of representatives from the Federal Highway Administration and eight departments of transportation (DOTs) who have contributed funds for implementing research projects aimed at reducing the number of deer-vehicle crashes. Members include Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin. The Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Natural and Human Environment is the lead agency for the pooled fund.
In addition to his duties as director of the DVCIR Center, Knapp maintains a website that is a clearinghouse of information dedicated to the problem, http://www.deercrash.com/.