Pondering deer-crossing signs

There are certain criteria that needs to be met in order for a deer crossing sign to be installed.
Photo by Tim Potter, KDOT South Central Public Affairs Manager 

By Tim Potter

KDOT South Central 

Public Affairs Manager

It’s deer season in Kansas – deer are extra active. And a motorist passed a deer-crossing sign the other morning and wondered: What determines when and where the signs get installed?

KDOT’s Steven Buckley, State Highway Safety Engineer, helped with an explanation:

First, there’s a threshold for adding a deer-crossing sign: Five deer-vehicle collisions within a quarter mile per year, or 15 crashes per mile in a year. The corresponding threshold used to be lower -- three crashes in a quarter mile or 10 crashes in a mile, before the current policy went into effect on May 1, 2012. KDOT determined that the previous threshold led to too many signs.

Meeting the threshold doesn’t automatically guarantee that a sign will be installed. Under KDOT policy, “New signs will be installed when brought to our attention and if shown on the most recent deer crash map.”

“Anywhere”: Although the signs alert drivers to a possible higher potential for deer, Buckley said there’s an important safety guidance: “The reality is deer can be anywhere. They’re not just going to cross by the signs. We don’t want people to be just looking for deer when they see a sign.”

“Don’t swerve”: If a motorist does encounter a deer, he said, he or she should remember not to swerve to avoid the animal, because it could send the car dangerously out of control.

How KDOT learns of deer crashes: From law enforcement reports. But motorists don’t always report collisions.

Where a sign gets planted: Under the KDOT’s sign manual, deer crossing signs are to be installed 650 feet in advance of where deer have crossed where the speed limit is 65 mph, and 750 feet where the speed limit is 70.