Road Ecology Center

Animal-Vehicle Crashes are a growing trend in America, and Wyoming in particular. The focus of this research effort is to determine the effect of road reconstruction on the number of animal-vehicle crashes using changes in the reported animal-vehicle crash rates. Using GIS tools, the entire Wyoming highway system was analyzed using 10 years of reported crash data to determine both the frequency and crash rate of animal-vehicle crashes on each roadway segment. Seven reconstruction projects were selected for the study. Statistical analyses were performed with a focus on crash rates. The seven sections were analyzed as an aggregate data set, and it was determined that wild animal-vehicle crash rates experienced increases following reconstruction. During this same period, those crash rates not associated with animal-vehicle crashes, as well as the overall crash rate, were generally observed to decrease. An analysis of changes in roadway design attributes was performed, and the only attribute observed to have a statistically significant impact on the animal-vehicle crash rate was design speed.