USDA National Wildlife Research Center Symposia
Date of this Version
8-1-2000
Abstract
The costs of deer-vehicle collisions (DVCs) in Ohio are estimated to be in excess of US$52 million annually. The intention of this paper is to identify factors contributing to the abundance of DVCs in Ohio, calculate the average cost of a deer-vehicle collision event, and illustrate the potential gains in economic efficiency from alternative approaches for reducing DVCs. Our results suggest that large potential economic gains from reducing DVCs in Ohio exist and that the optimal strategies for achieving these reductions seem to combine both changes in deer management schemes and deer-vehicle mitigation strategies.