WV TOPS DEER COLLISION RATE FOR TEN YEARS

(09/22/2016)

West Virginia is among the most forested states in USA, but it carries a hazard. Motorists are more likely to hit a deer on a West Virginia highway than any other state, according to an annual study of auto collision by State Farm Insurance, West Virginia's largest auto insurance company. "For the tenth year in a row, West Virginia has ended up number one in State Farm's annual deer collision data," said State Farm Insurance Spokesman Dave Phillips. "This year the odds are 1 in 41 in West Virginia. The previous year it was 1 in 44 so it's about a 5.4 percent increase of the risk of a deer collision." West Virginia's rural nature and mountainous terrain are one of the reasons for the high numbers of deer collisions. There were 28,200 claims in the state for deer collision in the past year which was up from the previous year when it was 26,000. The figure marks about a seven percent increase in claims. "The collisions may not be as severe in the sense folks may be slowing down on impact or the collision repair itself may not have been as severe as the previous year had shown," said Phillips. One disturbing trend Phillips noted was a sharp increase in the number of motorcycle collisions with deer. November is the number one month for deer collision in West Virginia followed by October and then December. While West Virginia was the #1 state for odds of hitting a deer, Montana was second with odds at 1 in 58, Pennsylvania third at 1 in 67, Iowa was 1 in 68, and rounding out the top five was South Dakota at 1 in 70.

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