Dodge the Deer: Wildlife-Detection System Means Safer Roads
NORTHERN ONTARIO — The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is taking some extraordinary (and quite space-age) measures to cut down the number of truck-animal collisions. Todaystrucking.com caught up with a government spokesman who explained the life-saving technology:
TT.com: How does the MTO decide where the deer are?
MTO: First, we identify locations along the highway corridor with a high number of wildlife vehicle collisions. We then select the appropriate wildlife mitigation strategy from a number of available technologies. We take into account the species of animal involved, adjacent wildlife habitat conditions, and time of day and time of year the collisions are occurring.
TT.com: Do Wildlife-Detection systems work?
MTO: MTO has received positive feedback on the effectiveness of a specific wildlife detection system installed at Mile Hill on Highway 17, west of Sault Ste. Marie. Once the system has been operational for a longer period of time, we’ll have more data to analyze its impact on reducing collisions.
TT.com: What kind of stuff do you install and how does it work?
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