Nationally, deer and motor vehicles are coexisting like never before — but less so in West Virginia.
For the fifth consecutive year, West Virginia tops the list of the likeliest states for motor vehicles to collide with deer, says a study conducted by State Farm. A driver in the Mountain State has just under a 2 percent chance of colliding with the white-tailed animals, nearly four times the national average.
In West Virginia, drivers now have a 1 in 52.8 chance of colliding with a deer this year, down from 1 in 42 last year. That puts them head and shoulders above the second most collision-prone state, Iowa, where the odds are 1 in 77.
Still, collisions with deer are down by 7 percent nationally. The downturn could be a result of higher fuel prices and a tough economic climate that keeps drivers off the roads — or wildlife population-control efforts.