First, the bad news :
"It's quite common now for people to stop and help a turtle across the road rather than run over it," said project co-ordinator, Rick Levick. But a separate study, using dummy rubber turtles and snakes, had also shown that some drivers deliberately tried to hit the animals.
Such people should have their driving licenses permanently revoked and examined for psychological problems.
And then the good news :
The last of the turtle crossings were installed earlier this year - and the study is claiming a major improvement. "The average number of turtles venturing on to the road has dropped by 89% and snake numbers are down 28%," said Chantel Markle, a biologist at McMaster University.
And then more bad news - the good news hasn't been at all easy to achieve :
So rather than urging drivers to be more careful, the big challenge has been stopping turtles getting on to the road in the first place. Culverts were dug below the surface to allow turtles and snakes to cross safely, and fences and barriers were constructed along the road to force them to use these underpasses.
This was not straightforward. In some parts of the road it was sometimes difficult to put in adequate fencing, such as where the land was very marshy. And the study found that partial fencing could be worse than being completely unfenced, with animals in large numbers going through the gaps.
Regular concrete was too cold, so a specially adapted type of warmer polymer material was used, with a design allowing in enough light to make the animals confident that there really was light at the end of the tunnel. They also had to be no more than 150m apart, because any more would be beyond the roaming range of the lumbering turtles. Radio-tagged turtles were followed to find the best combinations of materials and locations.
I predict the next step will be a turtle-seeking drone that lifts the unfortunate animals to safety.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40088879
Turtles should have jetpacks permanently installed.
ReplyDeleteHopefully with more safety and autonomous systems on cars we'll see automatic animal avoidance software.
ReplyDeleteSuch people should have their driving licenses permanently revoked and examined for psychological problems.
ReplyDeleteMy parents lost a dog to a car who, according to eyewitnesses, ran it over deliberately (unfortunately they couldn't get the plate), so I strongly agree.
Oliver Hamilton The question is first how sensible should those algorithms be (should they choose only endangered animals, etc...) and second how long before people start trolling autonomous vehicles with fake animals.
don't pick turtles up in the desert! They'll pee on you and then die of dehydration.
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