Montana Department of Transportation tests a message on this Variable Message Sign, positioned to alert drivers before their trip over Montana's Bozeman Pass. Photo courtesy of Amanda Hardy, Western Transportation Institute.

Nobody enjoys collisions with wildlife. The problem is animals need to cross roadways, and when they do, there is often little-to-no warning for the driver. The result is that each year more than one million animals die at the front end of an automobile nationally. These collisions are not just bad for wildlife either; in Montana, five people died and 123 others were injured in 1,866 reported animal-vehicle collisions during 2005. Similar statistics are repeated in many states. Unfortunately, these collisions almost always lead to the death of the animal, typically cost the driver thousands of dollars in vehicle damage, and often even more in medical bills.

The premise of the human driver component of the safe passages equation is simple: if drivers knew where and when wildlife are on our roads, there would be fewer collisions. This would reduce human injury and death, save money on hospital bills and car repairs, and of course, protect our native wildlife populations.

So how do drivers become savvy about wildlife on the roadways? Basically, this is done in two ways: on-highway driver information – which informs drivers where and when they can expect wildlife on the road and which is discussed below; and off-highway driver information, such as public service announcements and news stories, that remind us that we need to be vigilant when driving in places where wildlife exist.

Enhanced Signs/Specific Signs

Most of us have seen a yellow sign similar to “Deer Next 20 Miles.” The common belief in the community of safe passages practitioners is that traditional yellow warning signs soon become ineffective, in part because drivers become desensitized to an uncaptivating message and in part because these signs address a threat in too broad an area.

As a result, safe passages practitioners have “enhanced” wildlife signs, with flags and lights to make them stand out more. However, the effectiveness of enhanced wildlife warning signs has been mixed, ranging from insignificant reductions in speed and collisions to nearly 50 percent reductions in collisions. In addition to enhanced signs, safe passage practitioners believe that when traditional wildlife warning signs highlight a short but critical section of road, these “specific signs” do a better job of heightening driver’s awareness. For example, in the Ninemile Valley northwest of Missoula, Montana, a specific sign was placed near a game trail where wildlife commonly cross Interstate 90 (see page 5).

Variable Messaging Signs (Changeable Electronic Message Boards)

An obvious solution to driver desensitization to static signs is to use signs with various rotating messages. These changeable electronic message boards are called “variable message signs.” These dynamic signs can be permanent or portable. They can be set up to only display a message during wildlife’s most active times of the day – dawn, dusk, and night, or during seasons when wildlife are most present – thus raising driver awareness at the most critical times. American Wildlands recently worked with the Montana Department of Transportation to set up such a sign to help protect bighorn sheep living close to a highway (see page 7).

Two recent studies by the Bozeman-based Western Transportation Institute (with funding help from American Wildlands) found dynamic signs were more effective than traditional signs at causing drivers to reduce their speeds, and to respond more quickly to wildlife on the road.

Animal-on-Road Detection Systems

Animal-on-road detection systems are catching on in the United States. This break th beam system in Yellowstone National Park is triggered when large animals cross the road. Photo by Marcel Huijser, Western Transportation Institute.

If you drove Highway 191 in the northwest corner of Yellowstone National Park, you might see a yellow blinking light above a sign displaying a large elk with the words: “WHEN FLASHING” and “NEXT 1 MILE”. The flashing lights are triggered when an animal (such as an elk) breaks one of a series of microwave beams that parallel both sides of this one-mile stretch of road, setting off the flashing signs at both ends of the area. Other animal detection systems use radar, such as a system in Switzerland that has successfully reduced collisions with deer by 80 percent.

These “animal-on-road” detection systems hold great promise, but are catching on slowly. As of 2006, the Western Transportation Institute had identified only 12 locations in North America and 22 in Europe where animal-on-road detection systems are either operational, non-operational, planned or dismantled.

Through our Safe Passages program, American Wildlands actively supports the advancement of on-highway driver information technologies such as specific signs, variable message signs, and animal-on-road detection systems.