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Reducing Car vs. Deer Accidents - Part One
Going Green
Going Green: Reducing Car vs. Deer Accidents - Part One
Why do deer cross the road where they do? New research has found some answers that might help reduce the number of car/deer collisions.
“There are a couple of things; one is the presence of cover right to the edge of the road. For example, there might be a tree line and if that brushy area comes right to the edge of the road that tends to produce a corridor so the deer feels safe to come to the edge of the road and then go ahead and cross,” said Brian Underwood, USGS Research Biologist.
Now here's one of the hotspot type areas that Brian is explaining to us. We have forest coming right down to the edge of the road and right across the road we have a guardrail, a barrier that deer are hesitant to jump over.
“It's one thing for an animal to get on the road. It's an entirely different matter for them to get off the road. We found those kinds of barriers (fences or guardrails) can interact and change the frequency of crashes at that site,” said Underwood.
At least in my experience deer would rather walk around a barrier or crawl under a barrier to get to a road. So if they came to a fence, for example, unless they were under duress, their natural inclination is to walk along the barrier until they find the exit. (How far would they go?) They could go a half a mile or more.Graduate student Sarah Nystrom visited 500 car/deer crash sites like this one in Onondaga County to put-together their profile to help highway planners change the habitat that makes roadsides attractive to deer and perhaps re-design guardrails and other barriers to provide the deer an escape route. Meantime, what should car drivers do when they see deer on the roadside?
“The fact of the matter is that not everybody knows that you really ought to slow down,” said Underwood.
