comparison of factors associated with animal–vehicle crashes and non-animal–vehicle crashes in wyoming

This study investigated and compared animal–vehicle crashes (avcs) with non-animal–vehicle crashes (non-avcs) using police-reported crash data collected from the wyoming department of transportation (wydot). different driver, vehicle, roadway, and environment characteristics between avcs and non-avcs were compared. statistical tests were conducted to see whether the factors prevalent in avcs were statistically significant. when different environmental characteristics were examined, important distinctions between avcs and non-avcs were seen. avcs were found to be higher from the month of june to november with the highest (14.26%) being observed in the month of november. in addition, a vast number of avcs (60.41%) occurred during dawn and dusk. the speed limit was also found to have a significant impact on avcs. more avcs (76.41%) occurred when the speed limit was higher than 60 mph. in addition, dry road surface (90.02% avcs), dark and unlit condition (60.41% avcs), and clear weather (89.53% avcs) were associated with avcs when compared to non-avcs. it was found that drivers between 25 and 64 years of age were more likely to be involved in avcs (75.10%), whereas younger (between 16 and 24 years) and older drivers (65 years or older) were more likely to be involved in non-avcs. the proportion of non-avcs was 28.12% when drivers were between 16 and 24 years of age and 14.51% when drivers were 65 years or older. the results of mantel–haenszel estimation showed that drivers who were involved in avcs had about 1.65 times the odds of being 35 years of age or more and had about 4.37 times the odds of using safety equipment than drivers who were involved in non-avcs. the results also showed that dawn (odds ratio of 2.001) and night-time (odds ratio of 3.54) tended to have more association with avcs when compared with non-avcs. among different vehicular factors being considered, it was found that avcs were more common when the vehicles had straight maneuvers (odds ratio of 10.52). in addition, vehicles involved in avcs had 9.14 times the odds of traveling above 45 mph than vehicles involved in non-avcs. the factors found to be prevalent in avcs when compared with non-avcs will be beneficial to reduce avcs by helping to identify effective countermeasures