Don’t swerve!
News reports from Newfoundland and Germany strongly suggest the advisability of trans-Atlantic research into the problem of large forest animals crossing highways to the peril of drivers. Newfoundland Environment and Conservation Minister Charlene Johnson recently announced the provincial government will be issuing more moose hunting licences and allowing a longer season as part of a bid to reduce the island’s moose population. More than 700 moose-vehicle collisions occur in Newfoundland and Labrador every year, 70 per cent between May and October. In Germany, the ADAC auto club has conducted crash tests on model wild boars to highlight the mounting risk of crashes involving the surprisingly large animals. In a quarter of a million collisions with wild animals on German roads in 2009, 27 people died and 3,000 were injured. Hundreds of thousands of animals perished. The ADAC recommends that drivers don’t swerve to avoid animals on the pavement, since smashing into an oncoming car is far more dangerous.