As it gets darker out earlier in the day and animals start looking for mates, the risk of vehicle collisions with wildlife is increasing.
Superintendent Howard Eaton of Alberta RCMP Traffic Services says drivers should make sure their lights are working and their windshields are clean, but says his best advice is to slow down by 10 or 15 kilometres an hour in rural areas known for wildlife.
“If a deer or moose comes out of the bush in front of you at 110, you’re probably just going to have to hit it, whereas if you’re doing 80, you have that time to react and get the brakes on an avoid the animal; otherwise you’re looking at a hefty bill to get your car fixed or worse.”
Over the past few weeks, a number of animals have been left on Alberta roads after being hit. T
Superintendent Eaton,says their carcasses were then restruck several times, causing damage to a number of vehicles.
“If you hit an animal, please pull over, put your four-way flashers on, and make sure that the animal’s looked after. We just can’t leave an animal laying on the road for someone else to run over because what’ll happen is they’ll see that animal at the last minute and try and avoid it, and they’ll end up in the ditch and perhaps killed.”
If you can’t remove a dead animal from the road yourself, call the highway maintenance company for the area.
Photo by Jeremy Hockin, Flickr Creative Commons