Idaho developing wildlife-detection system to improve driver safety

Idaho Transportation Department’s (ITD) research program has initiated a project to evaluate an innovative new wildlife-detection system that may bring improved safety to area highways and reduce personal injury and property damage. The project is the result of a request from ITD’s northern Idaho office, and is a partnership between ITD and the Western Transportation Institute (WTI) of Montana State University. Collisions between wildlife and vehicles can be a big problem, and common in rural states such
February 15, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
7477 Idaho Transportation Department’s (ITD) research program has initiated a project to evaluate an innovative new wildlife-detection system that may bring improved safety to area highways and reduce personal injury and property damage. The project is the result of a request from ITD’s northern Idaho office, and is a partnership between ITD and the Western Transportation Institute (WTI) of Montana State University.

Collisions between wildlife and vehicles can be a big problem, and common in rural states such as Idaho, accounting for more than US$8.4 billion nationwide each year, and costing Idaho a total of nearly US$20 million last year.

Preliminary studies indicate that vehicle-animal collisions could be reduced by at least one-third by using the system. “Wildlife-vehicle collisions are a costly safety issue for Idaho travellers,” said ITD research program manager Ned Parrish. “Injuries and the loss of life, human or wild animal, are broad social and environmental concerns.”  

The system, which was developed by Boise’s Sloan Security Group, uses a Doppler radar sensor mounted on a pole 20-25 feet above the ground, allowing the sensor to ‘look over’ semi-trucks to detect large animals on both sides of the road and on the road itself for several hundred metres. The system is connected to flashing warning beacons that are activated to alert drivers of animals on or near the roadway.
Air Quality & Weather Systems Detection, Monitoring & Machine Vision Classification & Data Collection Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • March 15, 2016
    Rethink required to reduce road transport’s environmental impact
    Against a background of a renewed focus on limiting the rise in average temperatures, Colin Sowman looks at a project that is taking a holistic approach to the environmental impact and safety of road transport. At the COP21 meeting in Paris last December, almost 200 nations agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to keep the rise in global temperatures to 2°C) compared with pre-industrial levels. The transportation sector is a major contributor to the production of CO2, one of the main green
    Read More
  • October 10, 2012
    Urban tunnel replaces viaduct, improves safety
    Earthquake sensors, automatic barriers and real time monitoring systems are all part of a scheme to make a major Seattle traffic artery safer, by taking it underground. Huw Williams reports. Seattle’s metropolitan area of 3.5 million people, like much of the western seaboard of the United States, lies in an earthquake zone. In Seattle’s case, the city and its hinterland sit atop a complex network of interrelated active geological faults capable of severe seismic activity and posing complex considerations fo
    Read More
  • December 21, 2015
    Measuring alertness to avert drowsy driver incidents
    Falling asleep at the wheel is the primary cause in thousands of deaths on American and other roads, with truck drivers the most at-risk group. David Crawford investigates measures to counter drowsy driving.
    Read More
  • January 16, 2025
    A journey into the Dilemma Zone with Econolite
    Indecision on the road can kill. Econolite’s Sunny Chakravarty and Vincent Mayeda present new data-driven dilemma zone and intersection safety strategies for a Vision Zero future
    Read More

Highlighted Content