For the third consecutive year, the number of deer-vehicle collisions in the U.S. has dropped. And the downturn is accelerating. The percentage decline over the last year is nearly three times as large as during the previous two years combined. Using its claims data, State Farm®, the nation’s leading auto insurer, estimates 1.09 million collisions between deer and vehicles* occurred in the U.S. between July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011. That’s 9 percent less than three years ago and 7 percent fewer than one year ago. Among those states in which at least 2,000 deer-vehicle collisions occur per year, Vermont (24 percent), Michigan (23 percent), West Virginia (22 percent) and Connecticut (22 percent) experienced the largest one-year percentage declines.