Researchers Look to Keep Wildlife Out of Harm’s Way

Sensors that detect large animals on the road and alert drivers by activating flashing lights on warning signs could be the answer to lowering wildlife casualties, U.S. researchers say.

Roadside Animal Detection Systems (RADS) have been tested with varying degrees of success since the 1990s and collisions involving wild animals are posing a real threat to their populations.

To evaluate RADS efficiency, researchers from the University of Central Florida created a virtual road for test subjects to drive along in a realistic driving simulator.

Some subjects were tested with a RADS, while some were not. The researchers evaluated their responses to an animal darting into the road during the simulated drive. The researchers also tested whether simple, picture-based warning signs yielded better results than text-based ones.

They report in the journal Nature Conservation that using a simulator had additional benefits.

“We were able to study responses that would be extremely difficult to measure using field observations, such as the precise moment a subject started braking,” project leader Daniel Smith says.

Although picture-based warning signs outperformed word-based warning signs, both RADS versions were better than nothing at all, causing drivers to reduce their speed and brake earlier in response to an animal than drivers who had no warning system.

“There are different types of RADS that vary in how warnings are conveyed to drivers, but they are installed in completely different locations, so their performance can’t be directly compared,” researcher Molly Grace says.

The simulated road was modeled after U.S. 41 in Big Cypress National Park, FL, where a RADS was installed in 2012 to reduce roadkill of the endangered Florida panther.