Call to lower speed limits to reduce Koala deaths

[AWD Chaser]

http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news...-1226143836894

SPEED limits should be lowered, wild dog controls tightened and research funding boosted to stop the decline of koala numbers, a Senate committee has recommended.

http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committ...report/c04.htm

4.78 The high incidence of koalas being killed by road vehicles was raised as a significant threat to their survival. The Friends of the Koala submitted that car strikes are the second most common cause of koalas being admitted into care and the second most common cause of mortality. The Sunshine Coast Environment Council believes that there is little capacity for resilience with car strikes and recovery options must be urgently investigated. According to the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management, there were 4553 reported motor vehicle strikes in south-east Queensland between 1997 and 2009, resulting in more than 3400 koala fatalities.

Recommendation 13
4.90 The committee recommends that local and state governments:

• introduce appropriate speed limits in priority koala areas

Although there are plenty of other recommendations within this senate report (Bridges, wildlife crossings, signage, etc), I wonder if reducing speed limits would reduce Koala deaths as there are no real statistics to say that x amount of Koalas would not be killed at x kph slower...

[Jim Goose]

At mission beach in far north QLD there are sections of road which has a reduced speed limit because of the almost extint cassowarys. There are very large signs posted everywhere.

There is also a Mahoganny glider crossing near Tully, where large towers have been erected and a large rope strung across the highway so they can cross.

The real problem is that roads are built in areas where Koalas live as well as housing developments which has destroyed their habits.

Reducing the speed limit in those areas may give you more time to brake thereby giving them a bit more of a chance, but i doubt that it would do much to lower the toll.

The only possible way would be to fence large areas of the road where they live and put tunnels under the road (as has been done in other areas).

But of course this costs MONEY... and its just easier to lower the speed limit.

[sanchoXB]

Originally Posted by Jim Goose

The only possible way would be to fence large areas of the road where they live and put tunnels under the road (as has been done in other areas).

But of course this costs MONEY... and its just easier to lower the speed limit.

Personally it think the above comment is the answer, not only for koalas but all wildlife. Roads where possible should be fenced and also seperate the lanes to stop head on collisions. As for the money side of it, the $45 million wasted on fibre optic broadband would go a long way towards road works and also create jobs.

[aussie muscle]

i think hitting a koala (or any other living creature) won't matter if you're going 80 or 100 really.

[Ben73]

Work reckons we can only do max speed of 90 at night to avoid kangaroos.

How often do Koalas actually get hit. I have not seen any dead or alive on the road before.

[sudszy]

Originally Posted by AWD Chaser

]I wonder if reducing speed limits would reduce Koala deaths as there are no real statistics to say that x amount of Koalas would not be killed at x kph slower...

They'll have some stats after they reduce the limits.....there is a little knowledge out there that says slower = better chance of avoiding things that aren't moving so fast.....perhaps contemplate how speed reductions in school zones has reduced roadkill outside schools.

Originally Posted by aussie muscle

i think hitting a koala (or any other living creature) won't matter if you're going 80 or 100 really.

Sure hitting one at 80 or 100 isnt going to be pretty, but possibly the idea is

1. if you are going 80km/h rather than 100km/h then when you see them and brake that you are going at a much slower speed when you do hit them, and/or that you are able to manoeuvre/avoid/stop hitting them in the first place.

2. The Koala itself has far more time to react, after noticing the car approaching


As such no actual amount of reduction has been mentioned. Not an expert on koalas but a lot of the time they are in mountain areas/twisty roads where speeds would be under 100km/h

Originally Posted by Ben73

How often do Koalas actually get hit. I have not seen any dead or alive on the road before.

The references listed say 4500 reported hits and 3400 fatalities in QLD in 12 years, about the same as the QLD people road toll over the same period. The report doesn’t mention what proportion of roads they are talking about, perhaps only the roads where you see the signs showing koalas crossing the roads.

[stang65]

They really should learn to look both ways before they cross the road.

[buggo]

Originally Posted by stang65

They really should learn to look both ways before they cross the road.

Haha that reminded me of the Carl Baron skit talking about Koala crossings. Skip to 2 mins.

On topic but, as much as I hate seeing an injured animal on the road. I don't think that lowering limits is reasonable.
Have they factored in the extra fatigue people will suffer from by going drearily slow. Is the life of a koala equivelent of the health/ life of a person?

[irish2]

Habitat destruction, dogs, and cats are the koalas' main problems.

[Franco Cozzo]

Take them all away and put them in a zoo, problem solved.

[jjw]

I don't see why everybody else has to slow down just because the koalas are driving too fast - shouldn't they just be speed limited, like trucks?

[2011G6E]

You know...I don't know if I've just been driving in the wrong areas for the last thirty years of driving, but i've never seen a dead koala on any of the states roads all up and down the coastline which i've been on...
I've seen hundreds of poor old echidnas flattenened, but never a koala.

[Psi-Pop]

Originally Posted by jjw

I don't see why everybody else has to slow down just because the koalas are driving too fast - shouldn't they just be speed limited, like trucks?

LOL, Id like to see more Patrol cars equipped with Eucalyptus testing kits on board.

[SEZ213]

Perhaps, just perhaps, the emphasis on 'keeping your eyes on the road' has been all too much for some drivers? In my travels of southern Vic (prime koala country), I very rarely, in ten years saw a koala during the day on the roads - it was usually always at night.

When my dad first taught me to drive, he asked me a question, regarding roo's, but works on the same principle. "If you're driving on a road at night, and there's a roo on the road, what's the first thing you do?" Being 16 and a little naive at the time, I responded 'slow down?' - The answer was yes to slowing down, but the more important factor he pointed out was that if I was driving at night, it was likely that my high beams were on, possibly dazing the animal on the road to a point where they wouldn't/couldn't move.

On the other hand, Koala's aren't fast creatures, sure they can move if they want to - but they normally amble across the road, stoned from their last dinner of eucalyptus leaves. Observation to the edges of the road to see what's coming from the sides may be beneficial, but in saying that, reducing the limit might work as well.

When I worked at the vets, I witnessed something, well a little odd. A person had brought in a koala that they had hit on the road - they were sure they had killed. The vet did a quick exam, and when she touched it's chest, well...it wasn't dead, in fact very much alive, and very bloody angry...

This whole thing may be a bit reactive though, particularly when the article references 'climate change' as a possible reason for the decline, and the diseases, particularly 'chlamydia' seem to be an afterthought, even though from my understanding, that was the biggest problem that they had after land clearing. But don't let the truth get in the way of the 'anti speed' agenda...

The number of koalas seems to be very broad as well...between 43k & 84k...if they don't know how many there are, how do they know there's a decline in the population?

[sudszy]

Originally Posted by Sezzy

This whole thing may be a bit reactive though, particularly when the article references 'climate change' as a possible reason for the decline, and the diseases, particularly 'chlamydia' seem to be an afterthought, even though from my understanding, that was the biggest problem that they had after land clearing. But don't let the truth get in the way of the 'anti speed' agenda...

The number of koalas seems to be very broad as well...between 43k & 84k...if they don't know how many there are, how do they know there's a decline in the population?

are you happy with the 3400 koalas sacrificed to road kill in QLD, or disputing those numbers based on that they are part of the overall plot for the government/scientist conspiracy to introduce a carbon tax and gain more revenue from speed cameras.

[Keepleft]

Certain Koala areas, don't see an issue.

[Bucknaked]

How much can a Koala bear?

[graham7773]

Dunno about koalas but see how you are travelling after hitting a full grown wombat at 100kph. They destroy your front end

[wrongwaynorris]

" How much can a Koala bear? "

Youd be surprised .

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/...-wedged-in-car

[Bucknaked]

Wow that's amazing. Can't believe he survived the impact. Bet he was cranky.

[TheInterceptor]

Depends on where they change the limits. That will determine if its all in good will or just another revenue idea.

[burnz]

they have rope overpasses for possums, they have drain tunnels for crabs.

but cant reduce a koala, echidna, wombat fatality??

[Angeldust]

10 years ago they tried having 'koala' zones in the Redland shire. The speed was reduced form 80 to 60kph between 7pm and 7am during the koala season months.

needless to say after a few years they reverted back to normal, as the reduced speed limits had no effect.

[sudszy]

Originally Posted by Angeldust

10 years ago they tried having 'koala' zones in the Redland shire. The speed was reduced form 80 to 60kph between 7pm and 7am during the koala season months.

needless to say after a few years they reverted back to normal, as the reduced speed limits had no effect.

You are half correct(there is plenty of literature available here), the speed limits were reduced but the speeds weren't actually reduced, motorists ignoring them

[Angeldust]

the bigger problem was/is land clearing for estates.

[Jim Goose]

Originally Posted by Angeldust

the bigger problem was/is land clearing for estates.

Yup 100% correct..... us humans just love to destroy the natural habitat of the local wildlife, then whinge when kangaroos attack people, possums poo on cars, dingoes take their babies and koalas commit suicide under peoples cars!

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by Angeldust

the bigger problem was/is land clearing for estates.

Yes, having just returned from Brisbane, come back and talk to me about lower speed limits in certain areas for koalas when you stop flattening hundreds of square kilometers of virgin bushland to make more and more housing estates to the north of the city...

[Ben73]

I know of people who line up wildlife with thier tyre and gun it.

Well they say they do that, don't know if they are just trying to act hardcore or what.

[dimka100]

People who do that should be lined up with an AK47 and shot … I like the little koala bears

Originally Posted by Ben73

I know of people who line up wildlife with thier tyre and gun it.

Well they say they do that, don't know if they are just trying to act hardcore or what.

[wrongwaynorris]

Originally Posted by dimka100

People who do that should be lined up with an AK47 and shot … I like the little koala bears

I'm happy to pull the trigger on the AK 47 .