Website Developed To Decrease Animal-Vehicle Collisions

Earlier this week I blogged about the glut of roadkill I've been seeing along area roads recently. The Idaho Transportation Department and Idaho Fish and Game Department have teamed up to do something about it. They've developed the 'Idaho Highway Wildlife Web' site to both warn motorists of wildlife corridors and to track game sightings.

The site also allows motorists to report where and when they see wildlife on the road. The Web uses a Google map to show wildlife corridors, a description of the types of wildlife that cross there, and how many incidents have been reported.

Northern Idaho's U.S. 95 has more wildlife collisions than any other highway in the state, followed by Interstate 15 in southeast Idaho. Idaho 21, outside of Boise, is known for frequent deer collisions. Here are some stats:

Wildlife Crashes in Idaho
Total Crashes with Wildlife:
2006 - 1,192
2007 - 1,281
Total Injuries to People:
2006 - 230
2007 - 202
Total Deaths due to Wildlife Collisions (People):
Since 1997 - 27