Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal
Colorado developing road kill prevention system
Roadkill is an ugly, smelly problem that can be expensive and flat-out dangerous for drivers. Outside of the occasional tall fence on the side of the road, there has been little to stop Bambi from chillin' in the middle of your local interstate. The state of Colorado is looking to change that with an ingenious new system that detects large animals on the freeway and warns drivers to be on alert. Colorado needs this technology, too, because up to 70% of its highway collisions involve animals.The system uses an underground cable that senses large animals, then triggers electronic signs that give drivers a heads-up to the upcoming danger. Colorado will be testing the system on US-160, and the state has deployed radar detectors to see if drivers slow down when they receive the warning. If the system works, you can expect that it will proliferate in areas with high amounts of collisions between automobile and animal.
[Source: Green Daily]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
TJ 8:23AM (10/14/2008)
I have lived in CO for 27 years. I have never been on US-160. Where the hell is that?
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kwsdurango 8:54AM (10/14/2008)
US 160 runs between Cortez and Pagosa Springs in the southwest part of the state. It is fairly remote and runs through a lot of wild country.
TJ 9:05AM (10/14/2008)
Cool, thanks. Been to Cortez... once. That was enough.
montoym 11:14PM (10/14/2008)
It starts on the East in Walsenburg and heads west through Alamosa on its way to Durango.
Is this all across US-160 or just parts of it?
I know La Veta Pass would be a prime spot for it if it's not already there. I see wildlife there virtually every time I cross it and once I actually stopped to help out a girl who had just hit something big with her car. It was well enough to take off running, but her car looked like it had been in a head-on collision.
Snutz 8:32AM (10/14/2008)
Oh drivers will slow down, but that will probably be due to their radar detectors going off and not the roadkill warnings.
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Alan44 8:34AM (10/14/2008)
The Indiana Tollroad has has a deer detection system along many stretches for many years. Gives warning to the drivers if a deer enters the detection system. Than system has been in place for at least 10 years, so this is nothing new except for maybe Colorado.
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Snark 8:40AM (10/14/2008)
As somebody who blew a big mule deer buck into the weeds outside Grand Junction on I-70 - miraculously not totaling the car, but coming damn close - I support this. Better than the "look, leaping bambis" sign, which on certain parts of the mountain highways are just plonked down once a mile.
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garlinski 8:46AM (10/14/2008)
On a drive from Denver to Aspen on I-70 one time I saw what was once a brand new Acrua TL get taken out by the hugest ELK I had ever seen in my life. Needless to say, there are some BIG animals on the highways in CO. Anything would help. Those Big Horn Sheep can do some damage too.
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mavkato 9:04AM (10/14/2008)
they have a similar system in southwest MN along MN-23 that uses sensors and signs with flashing lights. It has been in place for several years as well.
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jim 9:11AM (10/14/2008)
If the economy keeps going south the road kill carcass problem may resolve itself, dinner. Just Sunday saw a pickup parked on the median with the driver returning to it carrying a dead pheasant.
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Snark 10:14AM (10/14/2008)
Hey, that's what I did with my deer - that sucker gave up a hundred pounds of damn tasty sausage, stew meat, and cuts! I've still got some of the bastard chilling in the back of my freezer.
Flashpoint 1:02PM (10/14/2008)
That's right gentlemen.
Don't swerve to avoid...I anticipate the kill and speed up.
J M C 3 9:12AM (10/14/2008)
...um Colorado.There's a little thing called 'hunting season'.
Don't waste your taxpayers money burying deer detection cables in asphalt.
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TJ 9:26AM (10/14/2008)
"Perennially known for its over-the-counter bull elk tags and the vast array of public land opportunity, the real Colorado story in recent years has been the phenomenal deer hunting and 2006 was no exception. Deer hunters bagged an estimated 44,784 deer in 2006, up fromabout 42,000 the last two years. Success rates were estimated at 46 percent, the highest in recent history and slightly above the average of 45 percent since 2000. Pronghorn hunters enjoyed a 64 percent success rate
comparable to recent years, and harvested 7,300 animals.
Even with less than desirable conditions in some areas of the state, elk hunters harvested a very respectable 56,933 animals for a 24 percent success rate."
We aren't hurting for wildlife or hunters....
J M C 3 10:04AM (10/14/2008)
Maybe they need more sashquaches to eat the other deer.
Snark 10:17AM (10/14/2008)
Sasquatches would help. So would a good population of natural predators like wolves, but the rancher lobby put the brakes on that.
Mark 10:27AM (10/14/2008)
they aren't burying it in the asphalt, how would that help you know that there is a near near the road? Try again...
Jason 11:04AM (10/14/2008)
This actually gets worse during hunting season. The animals come out of the woods, down to personal properties and roadsides which makes them a larger target for vehicles. Travel east on I-70 outside Grand Junction during hunting season. There's at least one huge red spot on the highway every mile from the oil rig trucks taking them out.
Torrent 12:53PM (10/14/2008)
lmao. they painted over the animal.
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CarlosMC 2:35PM (10/14/2008)
Why don't you fence your highways like we do, here in Europe?
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