Skip to main content

Japan takes unique action on road safety

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
June 26, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
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 measure while mending them.

Hokkaido Railway Company earlier this year erected equipment that broadcasts the roar of lions in an effort to keep the timid animals away from its tracks, a spokesman said. He added there were 2,581 incidents involving deer last year, a figure that had doubled in less than a decade.

Related Content

  • Autonomous truck platooning moves up a gear with NXP and DAF Trucks
    November 25, 2016
    NXP Semiconductors is setting the pace in truck platooning with full-size commercial vehicles that can run at 80kmph only 11 metres apart, offering up to 11 per cent in fuel savings. The Dutch technology company believes that “there’s no better place than truck platooning to demonstrate the merits of autonomous driving.” Its research team has been working with DAF Trucks to develop leading edge technology that can make driving decisions ‘30 times faster than human reaction time’. NXP says that adapt
  • The case for integrating urban traffic control and parking
    February 3, 2012
    Although urban traffic control and parking management are inextricably linked in so many ways, there remain fundamental differences which undermine closer integration. Car parking guidance systems can have a significant, positive impact on congestion in town and city centres, however conflicting business models still stand in the way of the more profound integration of car parking management and Urban Traffic Control (UTC) systems.
  • Kistler showcases OIML-certified WIM technology
    February 16, 2016
    Kistler will use Intertraffic Amsterdam to highlight a major Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) innovation that has already won accreditation from the International Organisation of Metrology (OIML).
  • Peter Norton: ‘We can reintroduce freedom of choice in transportation’
    April 22, 2022
    Funding for transit, cycling and walkability can be politically divisive – so why not bypass politics by letting toll payers themselves choose how a fraction of their toll is spent, asks Peter Norton