Daylight savings time is ending this Sunday, giving Michiganders an extra hour of sleep.
However, vehicle collisions with wildlife increase by 16% after our clocks fall back, according to a 2022 University of Washington study.
While the external clocks for people shift, the internal clocks for wildlife do not. As human activity shifts with the time change, animals can be caught off guard, according to Environment Michigan.
Calvin Floyd is a conservation advocate with the Environment Michigan Research and Policy Center. He says multiple factors play into this increased risk.
“This leads to an extra hour of early evening darkness, generally making people's commutes darker and more dangerous because this is also the time of day when animals, especially deer, are most active,” Floyd said.
The 2026 Roadside Wildlife Count was a country-wide effort by Environment American Research and Policy Center between Oct. 2 and 11 to collect information on wildlife along roads. In Michigan, 129 animals were seen along road, and 75% of them were dead.
“We as humans are... we're social animals. We have built roads to connect our lives to other places, other people,” Floyd said. “But that means that we're bisecting a lot of really important animal habitat.”
According to State Farm's 2026 annual report, Michigan is among the top five states in the nation for animal collisions.
“As animals are trying to get from one side of a road to the other for food, for mating, for bedding, other things, they are coming into conflict with our roads,” Floyd said.
A potential solution to this issue would be wildlife crossings. These can manifest as tunnels or bridges that allow wildlife to crossroads risk free.
The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by Congress established a Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program. The Michigan Department of Transportation received $464,376 from the program in late 2025 to conduct its Statewide Wildlife Vehicle Collision Hotspot Analysis, which is still ongoing.
“The goal would then be to use that information to build out a system of wildlife crossings at the places where they're most needed,” Floyd said, “but ultimately more funding will be needed in order to make that happen.”
In the meantime, Floyd says Michigan drivers need to stay vigilant coming out of the weekend's time change.
“As we say in the Midwest as a sign of endearment, watch for deer.”
