October 23, 2012 – Deer-vehicle collisions are up across the United States compared to a year ago, and Missouri is now considered a “high-risk” state when it comes to these mishaps.
The chances of you hitting a deer if driving in Missouri in the next 12 months are 1 in 116, slotting the Show-Me State at No. 15 in the country. The national average is 1 in 171.
Using its claims data and the number of licensed drivers in each state, State Farm® estimates 1.2 million collisions between deer and vehicles occurred in the U.S. between July 1, 2011, and June 30, 2012. That’s an increase of 7.7 percent over a year ago. The previous three years have seen an overall drop of 2.2 percent.
For the sixth year in a row, West Virginia tops the list. State Farm calculates the chances of a West Virginia motorist striking a deer over the next 12 months at 1 in 40, compared with 1 in 48 the year before.* South Dakota moved from third to second, at 1 in 68 on the list. Iowa drops from second to third, at 1 in 72.
The state in which deer-vehicle mishaps are least likely is still Hawaii (1 in 6,801). The odds of a driver in Hawaii colliding with a deer between now and 12 months from now are approximately equal to the odds that any one person will be struck by lightning during his or her lifetime.
Tips from the Insurance Information Institute on how to reduce the odds of a deer-vehicle collision:
*A change in State Farm’s claims reporting process caused the number of deer-vehicle collisions reported a year ago to be understated by 5.1 percent countrywide (more in some states, less in others). Thus, comparisons between data we provided a year ago and data in this news release should not be made. Links to the corrected numbers for last year (July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011) are provided.
** This encompasses first-party, collision or comprehensive coverage claims not caused by weather, criminal activity or fire and not including breakage of glass claims.
Jim Camoriano, State Farm Public Affairs, (573) 499-2452 or (573) 289-6440
State Farm and its affiliates are the largest provider of car insurance in the U.S. and is a leading insurer in Canada. In addition to providing auto insurance quotes, their 17,800 agents and more than 65,000 employees serve 81 million policies and accounts – more than 79 million auto, home, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and nearly 2 million bank accounts. Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for renters, business owners, boats and motorcycles, is also available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 43 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com or in Canada http://www.statefarm.ca.
