Way back when I
was learning to drive, I recall swerving to avoid a small bird on
the road. My instructor gave me a quick talk about that: Better the
animal than me. He wasn't being cruel or even callous, just
practical.
As a society,
we're not intentionally killing or injuring the beasts of the earth
any more than a moose or deer intends to go through someone’s
windshield. However when you consider the amount of roadkill we are
collectively responsible for, it gives pause.
Let's start
with the human toll from animal-vehicle collisions. Former Ontario
transport minister Harinder Takhar pointed out last fall that in
this province "One in every 18 motor vehicle crashes involves a wild
animal. This represents an 86 per cent increase over the past
decade. In 2003 alone, four people were killed, and 500 others hurt
in over 13,000 collisions involving wild animals."
High Country
News, a nonprofit news organization in the U.S. West claims that out
of 6.3 million automobile accidents annually in the United States,
253,000 are between animal and vehicle -- resulting in 200 human
deaths a year. An estimated half of vehicle-large animal collisions
go unreported.
Apparently 90%
of animal-vehicle collisions involve deer, with owners spending an
average of US $2,000 in repair damage. Even if one were unmoved by
the claim that one million vertebrates -- as in squirrels, cats or
opossums -- are run over each day in the United States (a rate of
one every 11.5 seconds), the cost to humans is enough to inspire
change.
In a reasoned
yet radical essay found on
www.wildrockies.org, one Reed Noss, PhD, warns further that "roadkill
statistics are invariably biased toward mammals, against reptiles,
amphibians, and probably birds, and do not include invertebrates at
all (who wants to count the insects smashed on windshields and
grills?)."
We'll take as a
given that people will continue to drive fast, and continue to move
into areas now dominated by wildlife -- such as northern Ontario or
the Rockies -- so what can be done? Most options are simple,
although not cheap.
Fences and
culverts are the starting point -- simply keep the creatures away
from roads and rail lines, or let them slither underneath.
Unfortunately man-made barriers isolate wildlife into smaller and
smaller zones, hurting their chances at breeding and survival. The
range of "mitigation" factors also include sensors and warning
devices along transportation corridors, metal spikes at rail
crossings, and continue right up to multi-million dollar over- and
underpasses.
The Yellowstone
to Yukon Conservation Initiative, at
http://www.y2y.net/, consists of organizations intent on
protecting the ability of beasts to roam across great swaths of the
continent. To do that, animals need to be able to safely pass around
roads, railways and pipelines, and ongoing studies are now looking
at whether our furry friends will actually use artificial bypass
routes.
Holland, a
nation which already has the best roads, bike paths and transit
lines, is spending millions of euros on "Ecoducts," which translates
as “Critter Crossings”. A coalition of fifteen states in the western
U.S. is backing a research project to help prevent collisions with
animals along state roadways "and save lives".
What does
Ontario's Ministry of transportation advise? Their "Watch For
Wildlife" brochure says, "Brake firmly if an animal is standing on
the road, or about to cross. Never assume the animal will move out
of the way.
"Never swerve
suddenly. This could cause your vehicle to go out of control." (In
case your driving instructor never told you.)
"Scan the road
ahead from shoulder to shoulder. When you see wildlife beside the
road, slow down and pass carefully as they could suddenly bolt onto
the road." Let’s be careful out there.
Ed Drass, with
files from James Bow
Email the
Traffic Guru at
edrass@nationalpost.com