Catalyst - Road Kill Rescue

[aussie muscle]

Some might find this study on the animal road toll interesting, but might be bad news for those resistant to speed limit reduction on open highways. The studies suggest that at night, the limit needs to be reduced to 50-80km/h in areas of high animal fatality black spots at night.

Video on ABC
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3198257.htm

[TRAU BLAU]

Yeah I agree.The speed limit should be reduced at night everywhere.Even glaring lights especially on wet surfaces can be confusing.What about 10 kph reduction between sunset & sunrise.

[GasoLane]

So everyone in country areas, with a 100kmh limit, have to drive at 90kph ?

Even a 70kmh on dipped beam you're not going to avoid something running from the bush, not to mention the hazard of jumping on the brakes for a possum if there's traffic behind you.

[joolz]

Ahhh Tasmania....

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by aussie muscle

Some might find this study on the animal road toll interesting, but might be bad news for those resistant to speed limit reduction on open highways. The studies suggest that at night, the limit needs to be reduced to 50-80km/h in areas of high animal fatality black spots at night.

Video on ABC
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3198257.htm

50 to 80kph????

Let me guess...an astoundingly brilliant idea from some city-bound academic who takes the bus or rides a pushy to work every day and who has a nice little Prius in the driveway to go to the latte shop on the weekend...

YOU try dawdling along a country highway at fifty bloody kph at night, even eighty...you want deaths from frigging fatigue, you're going to get even more of them...

Morons...

[irvinnie]

Yep no better way of battling fatigue issues than by reducing the speed limit and turning a two hour journey into a three hour one. As long as it saves a couple of animals though its worth it right? Those that struggle to see at night then you can always drive to the conditions and travel at a speed you are comfortable with, no need to make everyone else drive so slow.

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by irvinnie

Yep no better way of battling fatigue issues than by reducing the speed limit and turning a two hour journey into a three hour one. As long as it saves a couple of animals though its worth it right? Those that struggle to see at night then you can always drive to the conditions and travel at a speed you are comfortable with, no need to make everyone else drive so slow.

Of course a lot of modern "road safety" has one prime motivator and basic philosophy..."slow everyone down, that will fix it".

Hell, after a series of morons having near misses with trains by going through flashing red lights or driving around boom gates in front of oncoming trains, there was the astoundingly brilliant suggestion that we make trains slow down to about 20kph at every road crossing, then speed up again when they've gone by...and trust me with a train it's not as simple as hitting a brake pedal then flooring the gas and speeding up (or slowing down) quickly...
Sure...slow the trains down to make it safer for people to break the law...

[chamb0]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

50 to 80kph????

Let me guess...an astoundingly brilliant idea from some city-bound academic who takes the bus or rides a pushy to work every day and who has a nice little Prius in the driveway to go to the latte shop on the weekend...

YOU try dawdling along a country highway at fifty bloody kph at night, even eighty...you want deaths from frigging fatigue, you're going to get even more of them...

Morons...

Take a breath, read the transcript or else you're only guessing... It's talking about several roadkill hotspots in Tassie. Among the top 10 animals killed in those hotspots were bandicoots, quolls and the perhaps soon to be extinct tassie Devils (a major tourism drawcard). You may not care, because the universe is there to serve 2011g6e wherever he goes, but plenty of people do. The Devils are attracted to other roadkill at night, creating a vicious circle.

If nothing else, the work on the reflectivity and detection distances of different animals on the road at night may be interesting and useful if you do a lot of night driving. Even if you're not so much environmentally minded you could use the app or database to identify the worst problem areas and help avoid preventable damage to your own car.

[2011G6E]

Originally Posted by chamb0

Take a breath, read the transcript or else you're only guessing... It's talking about several roadkill hotspots in Tassie. Among the top 10 animals killed in those hotspots were bandicoots, quolls and the perhaps soon to be extinct tassie Devils (a major tourism drawcard). You may not care, because the universe is there to serve 2011g6e wherever he goes, but plenty of people do. The Devils are attracted to other roadkill at night, creating a vicious circle.

If nothing else, the work on the reflectivity and detection distances of different animals on the road at night may be interesting and useful if you do a lot of night driving. Even if you're not so much environmentally minded you could use the app or database to identify the worst problem areas and help avoid preventable damage to your own car.

And once one state comes up with an idea like this, you must realise that mobs like the RSPCA (who has basically become an animal rights organisation now, a "PETA-Lite" if you will) they will try and get it spread to other states.
In Queensland we've already had American animal experts sagely telling us kangaroos are endangered because of the number of dead ones they see by the highway and one even came up with the laughable idea of fencing off each and every road and highway with 10 foot high fences!!

Stupid ideas spread a lot faster than good ones, sadly...

[marty351]

2011G6E, you're spot on the money.
City dwelling socialist left wing uni hippies have no idea. Sadly there is not much, if anything, that can be done to stop our natives being killed. It's not their fault they're nocturnal.

[Adamz Ghia]

Far too many people with far too much time on their hands with nothing to do but think up dumb ideas...

[Ben73]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

Of course a lot of modern "road safety" has one prime motivator and basic philosophy..."slow everyone down, that will fix it".

Hell, after a series of morons having near misses with trains by going through flashing red lights or driving around boom gates in front of oncoming trains, there was the astoundingly brilliant suggestion that we make trains slow down to about 20kph at every road crossing, then speed up again when they've gone by...and trust me with a train it's not as simple as hitting a brake pedal then flooring the gas and speeding up (or slowing down) quickly...
Sure...slow the trains down to make it safer for people to break the law...

Yeah they do reduce speed at crossing instead of making it safer. Around here a car was hit by a train at a rural crossing over 3 years ago, there is still a 60kmh limit on that crossing and nothing has been done to make it safer.
Can't imagine 20 at every crossing, there is one rural one we occasionally approach at 15 due to exiting a siding, so many times we have been abused by people in road vehicles. Beeping horns, flashing lights, sticking their finger up, waving at us to hurry up. Do they think we want to go that slow for no reason.

As for dead roos, I have hit one while doing 12kmh on the train going up a steep hill. Kangaroos are stupid and will manage to kill themselves one way or another.

[chamb0]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

And once one state comes up with an idea like this, you must realise that mobs like the RSPCA (who has basically become an animal rights organisation now, a "PETA-Lite" if you will) they will try and get it spread to other states.
In Queensland we've already had American animal experts sagely telling us kangaroos are endangered because of the number of dead ones they see by the highway and one even came up with the laughable idea of fencing off each and every road and highway with 10 foot high fences!!

Stupid ideas spread a lot faster than good ones, sadly...

Back in the realm of reality, note that the Catalyst episode is a re-run from over 4 years ago... this is not a new scary thing.

You're off the mark with your intriguing comment on the RSPCA.

The episode is looking at Tasmania, not QLD (you're not the centre of the universe, remember). It's about Tasmania because roadkill is a widely recognised major problem there. It's about Tasmania because the data suggests it may have the highest road kill rate per km in the world. Inattentive and inexperienced tourists contribute to it and it helps to provide them with a bit more knowledge on what to expect. A local citizen scientist (a marine biologist who enjoys mapping things in his own time at his own expense) used his experience in mapping bluefin tuna to identify where the worst roadkill zones are.

All the different hotspot maps can be downloaded to a GPS from roadkilltas.com.

For example:
Pink line = road
Pink circle = point of high roadkill density > reduce vehicle speed in these areas.


Note the hotspot areas - small and discrete, and, comfortingly for you, nowhere near QLD.

The experiments looking at detection distances for 9 different species found that the Tassie devil had the shortest mean detection distance when using high beam (61m). I like Tassie devils, they're a cool critter, and they're doing it really tough with the facial tumour disease among other things.

"Riding the Devil's Highway" is an interesting book written over ten years by the local Don Knowler.

Increasing driver knowledge, awareness and attentiveness on what's going on around them, driving to the conditions etc is a good thing... right?

[mr smith]

I live in a high road kill area. Locals slow down at night and wood ducks and blow ins keep cranking along at 100 or more. You usually catch up with them around the next bend with a roo mashed into the windscreen. Same thng happens when the black ice warnings are flashing.

[Tonz]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

And once one state comes up with an idea like this, you must realise that mobs like the RSPCA (who has basically become an animal rights organisation now, a "PETA-Lite" if you will) they will try and get it spread to other states.

.

my new group

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

one even came up with the laughable idea of fencing off each and every road and highway with 10 foot high fences!!

Seen high fences erected here victoria where there were high incidents of Roos previously crossed the highways, it actually works stopping a high percentage of Roos crossing, no laughable idea, but a sensible idea.

[b0son]

exactly. elsewhere, they build tunnels under highways for wombats etc to go through. they work. as a taxpayer, I have no issue with money being spent on such measures, rather than lowering limits. we all know there will always be a proportion of drivers who don't slow down, and its far from safe for one driver doing 60 while the guy in the lane next to him is zooming past at 100+. we motorists contribute plenty of money, let it be spent on the roads, rather than on pollies benefits.

[Ratmick]

Originally Posted by trublu

Seen high fences erected here victoria where there were high incidents of Roos previously crossed the highways, it actually works stopping a high percentage of Roos crossing, no laughable idea, but a sensible idea.

They've got that up here, alas the roos just follow the entry and exit ramps and end up on the Calder Freeway anyway. Doesn't really help that VicRoads plants the entries and exit with thick native ground cover and shrubs so they can hide either.

[new2ford]

I feel virtuous because I've only scored a fox

Mind you, one night a wombat T boned me - like I didn't run into it, I saw it and stopped and it walked into the side of my car

Anybody who lives in the country usually knows where the roos and wombats are likely to be and you don't go flat out.

[Kil4Collingwood]

Hit a roo outside Murchison victoria one morning, doing 90 (110 limit) on a highway on ramp.
Had no idea what I had even hit until I walked back to check the poor thing was actually dead.