Nationwide

• According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), there are 36 million vehicle owners throughout the United States who do not have comprehensive coverage. These owners decline comprehensive coverage because they think their automobiles are too old or not worth the coverage. The NAIC reports that Michigan has the second-largest number of deer accidents, yet statewide comprehensive policies dropped by 16,000 in 2003.
  
  

Statewide

• Pennsylvania tops the chart for the highest number of deer-related auto accidents, but from 1999 to 2009 there was a decline in these numbers. Erie Insurance gives credit to an educational driving program for this decline. The program began in 1999 and teaches drivers how to avoid deer accidents. From 1999 to 2009, deer-related accident claims were reduced by 6 percent. The NAIC reports that from 2007 to 2009, the number of policyholders in Pennsylvania with comprehensive coverage increased from 85,000 to 6.3 million.
  
  

Costs

• The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that accidents involving deer and automobiles cost an average of $1.1 billion per year. The average collision cost, per insurance claim, is $2,800. If the driver or passenger was injured in the accident, the average cost is $10,000. The federal government reports an average of 200 human deaths each year due to auto accidents involving deer.
  
  

Awareness

• Lorie Honor, a Pennsylvania resident, supports the educational driving program in Erie. Honor is involved in coordinating a nationwide campaign with the wildlife management and insurance and highway safety industries to promote more awareness and education about deer-related automobile accidents. Honor became involved after her brother and his friend were killed in a a deer-related accident in Wyoming in 2006. After hitting a deer, their vehicle spun out of control and landed in the path of a tractor-trailer.
  
  

Safety

• In addition to educational programs, deer whistles have gained popularity. The effectiveness of these whistles is debatable, per conflicting research results. Deer whistles can be attached to any vehicle. When a vehicle travels at 35 mph or faster, the whistle reportedly makes a sound heard by deer but not humans. The sound is intended to cause deer to freeze where they are, perk their ears and see the vehicle.