Canada tests animal detectors

In an effort to reduce collisions caused by deer, moose, elk and caribou in Ontario, the highway ministry’s eastern region is now testing sophisticated motion-detection systems that flash a warning to motorists only when animals are on or near the highway.
November 5, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
In an effort to reduce collisions caused by deer, moose, elk and caribou in Ontario, the highway ministry’s eastern region is now testing sophisticated motion-detection systems that flash a warning to motorists only when animals are on or near the highway.

Two new test systems developed by Rotalec, use solar-powered perimeter radars to track all movement and the speed of every passing vehicle on the highway. Software analyses the size and speed of objects captured by the radar to separate man and automobile from beast.  Small mammals like squirrels and raccoons, however, are still on their own. The system cannot track their crossings.

While political sensitivity in Ontario about photo radar means that the data cannot be used for speed enforcement, Mr. Dickson said that the speed data showed that motorists were changing their ways.

“The alarm is tripping regularly, and we are starting to see speeds coming down,” said Blake Dickson, vice president of sales and marketing at Rotalec.

David Brake, a traffic project specialist with Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation, said speeds had fallen 15 per cent, on average, when the lights were flashing.
Detection, Monitoring & Machine Vision Classification & Data Collection

Related Content

  • Inrix aids authorities in dealing with data
    August 18, 2015
    New traffic data products and services have been launched to aid transport and urban planners and business with detailed intelligence on journey patterns, reports Jon Masters. Manual travel surveys ought soon to become a thing of the past for transport planners and the business community. The technology now exists for getting sophisticated levels of traffic and trip data from connected vehicles. Cars and commercial fleets carrying a GPS device, or a mobile phone or smartphone are the sources of the informat
    Read More
  • Japan takes unique action on road safety
    June 26, 2013
    In a bid to tackle the growing problem of collisions caused by deer, transport officials in the Japanese island of Hokkaido have taken drastic action. As well as spraying wolf urine near roads and railways they will also be broadcasting the roar of lions to try to keep the deer away. A spokesman for Nexco East, which runs the island's highways, said: 'Even though we have increased the height of fences to 2.5 metres from 1.5 metres, fences sometimes break because of heavy snow, so we need this stop-gap measu
    Read More
  • InnoSenT sizes up ITR-3800
    December 5, 2022
    Small radar system is designed for intersection management and traffic monitoring
    Read More
  • Debating the future development of ANPR
    July 31, 2012
    What future is there for automatic number plate recognition? Will it be supplanted by electronic vehicle identification, or will continuing development maintain the technology's relevance? In recent years, digitisation and IP-based communication networks have allowed Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) to achieve ever-greater utility and a commensurate increase in deployments. But where does the technology go next - indeed, does it have a future in the face of the increasing use of, for instance, Dedi
    Read More

Highlighted Content