<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Article Published: Wednesday, March 02, 2005 </TD></TR><TR><TD class=articleBody align=left>Car-critter crashes multiply State's herd of solutions includes high-tech light reflectors By Nancy Lofholm
Denver Post Staff Writer
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=right border=0 valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD><SCRIPT> <!-- // Hide from older browsers function openEnlarged(url, width, height) { wid = window.open(url, "EnlargedImage", "toolbar=no,status=yes,directories=no,location=no,scrollbars=yes,width="+ width +",height="+ height +",resizable=yes"); wid.focus(); } function showVideo(url, width, height) { wid = window.open(url + '?path=', "EnlargedImage", "toolbar=no,status=yes,directories=no,location=no,scrollbars=yes,width="+ width +",height="+ height +",resizable=yes"); wid.focus(); } // --></SCRIPT></TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE class=articleThirdColumn cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><!-- cdaFreeFormDetailByName.strSQL = FreeForm_GetTextBySectionIDPaperID @Name = 'ArticleFreeform1', @PaperID = '36', @SectionID = '53', @ArticleID = '2739781', @Filter = 'Article', @LiveFilter = '1', @DateTimeContext = '3/2/2005 9:21:22 AM' --><!-- ArticleFreeform1 not found -->
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>On Monday morning, Doug Sutherlin, owner of Doug's Auto Body Inc. in Durango, was doing what he does three times a week on average - writing up an estimate for a driver who has had a damaging wildlife encounter. "We have so many kamikaze deer and elk. They run into the side of vehicles all the time," Sutherlin said.
Wildlife-vehicle collisions - and the associated repair costs - have been increasing as the populations of people and deer and elk increase.
State transportation officials - who recorded a 224 percent increase in wildlife-vehicle accidents between 1993 and 2002 - are responding by trying a variety of methods aimed at reducing "deer-versus- Dodge" disasters.
The Colorado Department of Transportation's newest efforts involve installing 1,426 specialized reflectors along U.S. 40 east of Craig and erecting two electronic-message warning signs to slow down motorists on U.S. 550 between Montrose and Ridgway.
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The highway department will monitor those projects for three years in hopes of finding systems that could work to reduce collisions elsewhere.
"It's a very big issue, especially in western Colorado," said Mike McVaugh, a CDOT traffic safety engineer. "There is no Holy Grail for mitigating this, but we're trying."
While CDOT experiments, a bill is currently making its way through the state legislature that would would double speeding fines in areas with wildlife warning signs.
Colorado is grappling with a problem that has befuddled highway officials across North America for decades. The state has tried underpasses for deer and elk, whistles on bumpers, fences, lifelike decoys and infrared heat sensors and devices that sense ground vibrations from animals to trigger signs that warn motorists.
None of these has been a cure-all. Some have failed to have any impact. Animals don't like to go into dark underpasses. They prefer to walk over the top of highways while cars go under - a workable, albeit expensive, fix.
Motorists often ignore wildlife warning signs. They notice decoys, but the decoys are hard to maintain and can create their own problems with rubbernecking and theft. Deer get caught in fences. They ignore whistles.
The reflectors being installed along a remote 7-mile stretch of U.S. 40 east of Craig have shown the most promise, said Nancy Shanks, a spokeswoman for CDOT.
The department first tried them on a small section of U.S.36 between Boulder and Lyons, beginning in 1997. Average animal-vehicle crashes per year have since decreased 66 percent there.
Tiny curved surfaces in the reflectors catch car lights and create a zigzag light pattern that drivers can't see. The animals stay back from the "light fence" until vehicles pass and the lights disappear.
CDOT is spending $148,000 on the project. But Shanks said the department does not have money to add reflectors on all wildlife-heavy highways.
An insurance study shows animal-vehicle collisions are becoming more expensive.
The Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association reports that the cost to repair vehicles crunched by wildlife in Colorado increased 43 percent between 1993 and 2003. The average repair was $2,000.
Wildlife collisions can be costly surprises to even the most cautious drivers.
Tyler Baskfield, an information specialist with the Colorado Division of Wildlife, hit a deer one night while driving between Denver and Craig.
The collision killed the deer, did about $2,500 in damage to the front end of his Jeep, and left him stranded for several days, Baskfield said.
"And I pay special attention. The last thing I want to do is hit a deer or an elk. I just couldn't avoid it," he said.
<HR>Worst highways for wildlife-vehicle collisions in Colorado
I-70, Floyd Hill and Mount Vernon Canyon areas
U.S. 285 near Morrison
U.S. 160, Durango to Pagosa Springs and Durango to Mancos
U.S. 550, north of Durango and Ridgway to Ouray
I-25, Castle Rock to Larkspur
Colorado 82, at Aspen Glenn and from Glenwood Springs to Carbondale
U.S. 36, Boulder to Lyons
I-70 at Eagle
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Denver Post Staff Writer
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>On Monday morning, Doug Sutherlin, owner of Doug's Auto Body Inc. in Durango, was doing what he does three times a week on average - writing up an estimate for a driver who has had a damaging wildlife encounter. "We have so many kamikaze deer and elk. They run into the side of vehicles all the time," Sutherlin said.
Wildlife-vehicle collisions - and the associated repair costs - have been increasing as the populations of people and deer and elk increase.
State transportation officials - who recorded a 224 percent increase in wildlife-vehicle accidents between 1993 and 2002 - are responding by trying a variety of methods aimed at reducing "deer-versus- Dodge" disasters.
The Colorado Department of Transportation's newest efforts involve installing 1,426 specialized reflectors along U.S. 40 east of Craig and erecting two electronic-message warning signs to slow down motorists on U.S. 550 between Montrose and Ridgway.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
The highway department will monitor those projects for three years in hopes of finding systems that could work to reduce collisions elsewhere.
"It's a very big issue, especially in western Colorado," said Mike McVaugh, a CDOT traffic safety engineer. "There is no Holy Grail for mitigating this, but we're trying."
While CDOT experiments, a bill is currently making its way through the state legislature that would would double speeding fines in areas with wildlife warning signs.
Colorado is grappling with a problem that has befuddled highway officials across North America for decades. The state has tried underpasses for deer and elk, whistles on bumpers, fences, lifelike decoys and infrared heat sensors and devices that sense ground vibrations from animals to trigger signs that warn motorists.
None of these has been a cure-all. Some have failed to have any impact. Animals don't like to go into dark underpasses. They prefer to walk over the top of highways while cars go under - a workable, albeit expensive, fix.
Motorists often ignore wildlife warning signs. They notice decoys, but the decoys are hard to maintain and can create their own problems with rubbernecking and theft. Deer get caught in fences. They ignore whistles.
The reflectors being installed along a remote 7-mile stretch of U.S. 40 east of Craig have shown the most promise, said Nancy Shanks, a spokeswoman for CDOT.
The department first tried them on a small section of U.S.36 between Boulder and Lyons, beginning in 1997. Average animal-vehicle crashes per year have since decreased 66 percent there.
Tiny curved surfaces in the reflectors catch car lights and create a zigzag light pattern that drivers can't see. The animals stay back from the "light fence" until vehicles pass and the lights disappear.
CDOT is spending $148,000 on the project. But Shanks said the department does not have money to add reflectors on all wildlife-heavy highways.
An insurance study shows animal-vehicle collisions are becoming more expensive.
The Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association reports that the cost to repair vehicles crunched by wildlife in Colorado increased 43 percent between 1993 and 2003. The average repair was $2,000.
Wildlife collisions can be costly surprises to even the most cautious drivers.
Tyler Baskfield, an information specialist with the Colorado Division of Wildlife, hit a deer one night while driving between Denver and Craig.
The collision killed the deer, did about $2,500 in damage to the front end of his Jeep, and left him stranded for several days, Baskfield said.
"And I pay special attention. The last thing I want to do is hit a deer or an elk. I just couldn't avoid it," he said.
<HR>Worst highways for wildlife-vehicle collisions in Colorado
I-70, Floyd Hill and Mount Vernon Canyon areas
U.S. 285 near Morrison
U.S. 160, Durango to Pagosa Springs and Durango to Mancos
U.S. 550, north of Durango and Ridgway to Ouray
I-25, Castle Rock to Larkspur
Colorado 82, at Aspen Glenn and from Glenwood Springs to Carbondale
U.S. 36, Boulder to Lyons
I-70 at Eagle
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