Ungulate-vehicle collision clusters and hotspots in Lithuania 2002-2017

In 2002–2017, UVC accounted for about 56% of all animal-vehicle collisions (AVC) in Lithuania. Identification of UVC hotspots is important for the effective application of mitigation measures.

In order to identify UVC clusters (short, dangerous and significant road sections), kernel density estimation (KDE+) clustering was applied to the entire road network of the country. After identifying UVC clusters for every year from 2002 to 2017, we identified so-called UVC hotspots on the roads where UVC clusters reoccurred at least once, also noting where UVC clusters occurred within fenced road sections. One-third of UVC hotspots were created from recurrence in consecutive years, while the rest over 2–13 years.