Animal detection system makes wild U.S. 95 safer

Three sets of bleached rib cages lie in the grass at the edge of U.S. Highway 95. Shards of chrome and plastic are scattered nearby, evidence that this 2-mile stretch of highway is dangerous for both deer and drivers. In the past five years, 75 percent of the reported accidents here were wildlife-vehicle collisions. A wildlife detection system developed by Sloan’s company – Sloan Security Technologies of Boise – could make the road safer for both people and animals. It uses Doppler radar to spot animals approaching the roadway. The detection sets off flashing lights on a warning sign, alerting drivers to slow down. Getting drivers to apply their brakes is the objective. Standard wildlife crossing signs on rural highways are routinely ignored, said Rob Ament, road ecologist for the Western Transportation Institute in Bozeman. People get conditioned to the signs and stop paying attention. But wildlife detection systems, if they’re properly designed, can be highly effective. In other pilot projects in Colorado and Arizona, they’ve reduced collisions by up to 85 percent, Ament said. Drivers start to view the flashing lights as a “wildlife crosswalk,” triggering the defensive driving found in school zones, he said. The radar he’s using was developed for military applications, such a detecting suspicious activity around the perimeter of a convoy, Sloan said. The system sends out several signals per second. Filters screen out vehicle traffic, alerting on slower moving objects or objects perpendicular to the roadway. A person walking along the highway shoulder would set off the flashing lights. But a pedestrian’s presence is also a good reason for vehicles to slow down, Sloan said. Animals must be coyote-size or larger to trigger the system. The lights start flashing as animals approach the roadway, giving drivers time to react. Flashing lights continue until the animal has left the perimeter of the highway...more

What we really need is something called FEDS - Federal Employee Detection System. Around here those lights would be flashing all the time.

Doing this blog I learn something new almost everyday, much of it I end up wishing I had never learned.  For instance, what the hell is a "road ecologist"?  Road ecology is the study of the complex interaction between roads and the environment over scales of space and time.  That's not my definition but theirs.  You can find out all about it here.