PURPOSES : The aim of this study is to develop a decision-making model for safety countermeasures based on the characteristics of water deer roadkills. METHODS : Through field investigation, 113 water deer roadkills with factors related to environment, geometry, and ecology were collected from May 2018 to April 2019. From the collected database, the characteristics of water deer roadkills were analyzed. An analytic hierarchy process was applied to establish a decision-making model to prevent water deer roadkills from appearing. RESULTS : The likelihood of water deer roadkills increases in summer and winter, road sections in suburban areas with low traffic volume, surrounding farmlands, and areas without illumination. The results show that factors such as safety, ecology, road geometry, policy consistency, and the willingness of the local government are critical factors for establishing the decision-making model. CONCLUSIONS : Appropriate safety countermeasures for water deer roadkills can be developed if the roadkill frequency, degree of sight distance restriction, speed limit for controlling overspeeding, roadkill severity, degree of forest area, traffic volume, and willingness of competent authorities are considered as essential variables.