Deer: DST deaths

We Europeans are not the only ones who disagree with Change of time. The US is also considering leaving the changes and set standard time during a year. However, until that happens, they continue with the change in spring and autumn, like here. Therefore, now the sunsets are earlier, and this does not suit many, but pleases some. Now, putting this personal preference aside, it seems clear that somehow changing the fall time increases collision of vehicles with deer.

This is the conclusion of a study that has just been published in Current biologyby hand University of Washington scientists. In it they compare emergency numbers before and after the change in winter and summer time, which actually occur autumn and spring.

A clear rise can be seen immediately after the fall time change, which seems to have two explanations. On the one hand, this coincides with deer breeding seasonto more active and they are likely to hit the road more regularly. But, on the other hand, it gets dark earlier. And it seems that the combination of both factors is an explosive mixture that can be extrapolated to other countries.

Deer strikes in the US and Spain

Deer car collisions are a very serious problem in the United States and other countries.

These are crepuscular animals, which have the greatest activity. around sunset and sunrise. It is much easier for them to cross the road at night than during the day, and this is a problem, since it is precisely when visibility is less.

It is estimated that approximately 2.1 million such collisions occur annually in the United States. As a result, On average, 440 people die and another 59,000 are injured.. And all this, not counting the countless deer deaths that also occur as a result.

In other countries, such as Spain, they are also common in rural areas. And every time more. For example, according to a report prepared by Línea Directa, between 2017 and 2021 there were 11,400 collisions with animals such as deer, wild boar or roe deer. One of the most affected provinces is Soria, which accounts for 9% of these incidents. In addition, according to another study conducted DHTmost of these encounters take place in regular roadsespecially in spring and autumn.

Photo by M.K. Hamilton on Unsplash

What is the change in time?

In Spain, there have been no studies of time changes and incidents of this type. But it is possible that the same thing is happening in the US. And here, it seems, winter time seriously affects this situation.

The authors of the study came to this conclusion after collecting crash data from 23 states. from 1994 to 2021. During that period, more than 1 million deer collisions were recorded. They could be given at any time; but, logically, they were more frequent when human activity intersected with animal activity.

First, collisions occurred 14 times more often two hours after sunset than two hours before sunrise, when deer are most active. If this sunset occurs later, there may not be much activity on the roads. However, with the transition to winter time, the sun sets much earlier. Therefore, almost 10% collisions this happened over a two-week period around the changeover from summer to winter time. In addition, the increase 16% in vehicle collisions with deer just a week after the time change.

With all this, and taking into account the exact numbers, the authors of the study calculated that if constant daylight saving time were adopted, then collisions could be reduced, avoiding about 36,550 deer deaths, 33 human deaths, 2,054 human injuries, and $1.19 billion in annual costs.or.

This is another question to keep in mind when discussing whether we should put an end to time changes once and for all. This happens in the United States, but we have already seen that deer collisions are also a problem in countries like Spain. And, perhaps, in many other countries with a large rural area. The problem is much bigger than anything jet lag the next day.