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

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Personal Rapid Transit, clear benefits for European cities
    July 26, 2012
    David Crawford watches the race to get the world's first PRT system up and running. To paraphrase the old joke about buses bunching, you seem to have to wait several decades for a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system, and then half a dozen come along together. Currently, in fact, there are well over that number of schemes for driverless electric passenger-carrying 'pod' networks at various stages of planning, design and implementation around the world. Locations range from a straight-off-the-drawing board ne
    Read More
  • In-vehicle vision-based systems and autonomous vehicles
    January 11, 2013
    The Artificial Vision and Intelligent Systems Laboratory (VisLab) of Italy’s Parma University has built itself a fine pedigree in basic and applied research which has developed machine vision algorithms and intelligent systems for the automotive field. In 1998, a VisLab-equipped Lancia Thema named ‘Argo’ travelled along the famous Mille Miglia race route and completed 98 per cent of it autonomously using then-current technology. In 2005, VisLab provided the vision element of the Terramax, a collaborative un
    Read More
  • Long range radar aids wide area traffic monitoring
    March 16, 2012
    Applications of long range radar technology are demonstrating its effectiveness as a first line of defence for highway managers – adding greater resilience and capability to existing systems. Development efforts are bringing long range millimetric wave radar to the fore as a very useful tool for managers of highway networks. Application of radar for wide area monitoring in traffic management remains in its infancy. But recent projects are demonstrating how it can now serve to enhance detection of incidents
    Read More
  • TISPOL says gig economy tears up enforcement rulebook
    March 4, 2019
    The road safety enforcement sector is facing a crisis. Rulebooks around the world are going to have to change as our roads become a high-pressure workplace for millions of gig economy workers. Geoff Hadwick reports from the TISPOL conference Traffic police forces everywhere will need a fresh approach to regulating the way in which our highways are being used, senior enforcement officers were told at the latest TISPOL European Traffic Police Network annual conference. The World Health Organisation puts it
    Read More

Highlighted Content