Idaho Testing Radar to Help Prevent Deer Strikes

[Spud]

Could be helpful for riders....


COEUR d'ALENE — The Idaho Transportation Department is testing a device in Boundary County that, if successful, could significantly reduce the number of collisions between animals and vehicles on highways throughout the state.

Last year, according to ITD, collisions between animals and vehicles cost Idaho approximately $20 million in vehicle repair costs, human injuries and fatalities, towing, investigation, and the disposal of animal carcasses. To help alleviate this cost to both the state and motorists, ITD is testing a system that uses a Doppler-radar sensor mounted on top of a 25 foot pole to detect large animals on either side of the road.

The system, according to a press release, is connected to flashing warning beacons that are activated to alert motorists.

"It's another tool in the toolbox," said Reed Hollinshead, ITD public information specialist. "There is no guarantee that this system will be used, but it's another tool we are investigating. We understand that vehicle-wildlife conflicts are definitely a concern, particularly in a rural state like ours."

"From a numbers standpoint, whitetail deer would make up the bulk of the auto crashes," Wayne Wakkinen, a biologist with Idaho Fish and Game, said in a previous article. "But, from a human safety standpoint, moose are the biggest concern. If a small car takes out the tall legs of a moose, its body could go through the windshield."

However, according to Hollinshead, the new beacon system could prove to be more effective than costly underpass projects. According to the news release, preliminary studies indicate that vehicle-animal collisions could be reduced by at least one-third by using the system. "If you're taking $7 million off the table just by doing this, that would pay for a lot," Hollinshead added. The system is also mobile, which is promising as the state continues to experience growth.

"An underpass could work today, but say a week from now a developer comes in and builds a subdivision right next to it — the presence of people are going to push the deer to a different location," Hollinshead said. "A tunnel can't move, but you can uproot the sign and take it to any location."

A video prepared by the Boise-based company that made the beacon, Sloan Security Group, demonstrating how the device works, is available at

 

[ionbeam]

Couple that thing up with a high energy laser pulse and now you are cooking, err, so to speak :lol:

 

[Pterodactyl]

How do they get the deer to wear the radar???

 

[ionbeam]

Hoe do they get the deer to wear the radar???

It was interesting that the 'Doppler radar' video sure looked like a thermal camera display. Not that there would be errors in reporting.

 

[MCRIDER007]

Seems like it would be easier to put a bounty on the forest rats until the population was reduced by 90 percent.

 

[Spud]

Seems like it would be easier to put a bounty on the forest rats until the population was reduced by 90 percent.

There already is a bounty, it's called a deer tag. Large critters will always be managed by Fish and Game to sustain their numbers at healthy populations. People in general want them around and that won't change. If high traffic migration areas etc could get something to give you a real time warning if they're around it would at least be helpful. Not sure if this is going anywhere but at least someone is trying to get a practical solution to help mitigate the risk. Geez around here you could hit anything including a mutant two-headed mountain lion....(yes that's a real critter... https://abcnews.go.com/US/idaho-mountain-lion-found-full-set-teeth-forehead/story?id=36249244 )

 

[MCRIDER007]

A deer tag is a permit a hunter pays for in order to legally shoot something, usually during a limited hunting season. A bounty is a reward the state pays to eliminate or reduce the population of an animal that is recognized as a pest....and deer in this country certainly seem to fit that definition since they cause about a half million accidents and over a 100 deaths every year. I read once that the deer population is over 30 times as high as when Columbus landed, if true than reducing the population by 90 percent certainly would not upset the balance of nature.

 

[Big Sky]

I drove 25 years and never hit a deer. Now it's three times. And I near hit a moose last fall (ironically coming back from Idaho). This was in my wife's Corolla. You know how, when potential disaster is about to strike, you can see the even unfold in advance? Well, I saw the bumper clip that big old boys legs and 1,000 lbs. of moose carcass smashing into the windshield. I have no doubt I would have died. But in places like Montana (and Idaho) you'd need 10,000 of these warning systems to have an appreciable effect. It's just one of the prices we pay to live, work and play in the same environment as large wildlife.

 

[TomInPA]

Pennsylvania has one of the highest per-capita deer collision rates in the U.S. (West Virginia is #1). The irony is that deer are mostly protected and cultivated for hunting because they produce by far most of the license revenue. There were 126,275 vehicle collisions with deer in PA last year. All the statistics below are from State Farm, and your takeaway should be, it sucks to hit a deer on a motorcycle. Oh yeah, you need Comprehensive coverage.

State Farm likes to calculate the odds:

The top five states a driver is most likely to have a claim from a collision with a deer, elk or moose are:

Rank State 2015 Odds Percent Change from 2014

1 West Virginia..... 1 in 44..... 11.4% Less Likely

2 Montana ............1 in 63 .....19.1% More Likely

3 Iowa ...................1 in 68 .....13.2% More Likely

4 Pennsylvania .....1 in 70 .......1.4% More Likely

5 South Dakota .....1 in 73 ......12.3% More Likely

• The national cost per claim average is $4,135, up 6% from 2014 ($3,888).
• The months a driver is most likely to have claim involving a deer, elk or moose in the U.S., mostly due to mating and hunting seasons, are:
  1. November
  2. October
  3. December
• Nearly ten percent of the country's deer claims occur in Pennsylvania (126,275 collisions), though when taking into account the amount of licensed drivers in the state, West Virginia still edges out as number one with a likelihood of 1 in 44 compared to Pennsylvania's 1 in 70 (fourth ranked state).

 

[Knifemaker]

Since we moved out to the sticks, I've completely sworn off riding my bike at night. During those peak months I can usually spot a deer every day going to work, and there's at least 3-4 bodies at the side of the rode a every week. (I have a 39 mile commute that's mostly all highway)

Personally I think they should be hunted to the point of extinction, the remaining ones put in zoos, and I don't even want to think about dealing with a moose....

 

[FJRPittsburgh]

Since we moved out to the sticks, I've completely sworn off riding my bike at night. During those peak months I can usually spot a deer every day going to work, and there's at least 3-4 bodies at the side of the rode a every week. (I have a 39 mile commute that's mostly all highway) Personally I think they should be hunted to the point of extinction, the remaining ones put in zoos, and I don't even want to think about dealing with a moose....

How can you tell the deer was going to work?

 

[HotRodZilla]

"How can you tell the deer was going to work?"

 

[Old Guy]

One thing that video did is demonstrate very well that you don't assume you're clear just because you missed the first one or two. There's very frequently a straggler that'll take you out when you think you're in the clear.

 

[Knifemaker]

Since we moved out to the sticks, I've completely sworn off riding my bike at night. During those peak months I can usually spot a deer every day going to work, and there's at least 3-4 bodies at the side of the rode a every week. (I have a 39 mile commute that's mostly all highway) Personally I think they should be hunted to the point of extinction, the remaining ones put in zoos, and I don't even want to think about dealing with a moose....

How can you tell the deer was going to work?

Cause it was near the road....that's their job you know, standing or running next to the road to freak us out.

 

[Big Sky]

Hunter S. Thompson, "Dr. Gonzo," wrote this about jackrabbits but the same applies to deer. Parenthesis material is mine.

"People who claim to know jackrabbits (deer) will tell you they are primarily motivated by Fear, Stupidity, and Craziness. But I have spent enough time in jack rabbit (deer) country to know that most of them lead pretty dull lives; they are bored with their daily routines: eat, ****, sleep, hop (run) around a bush now and then....No wonder some of them drift over the line into cheap thrills once in a while; there has to be a powerful adrenalin rush in crouching (standing) by the side of a road, waiting for the next set of headlights to come along, then streaking out of the bushes with split-second timing and making it across to the other side just inches in front of the speeding front wheels (bumper).”