California Partners for Advanced Transportation Technology

The problem of vehicle/animal crashes is being addressed in this research. There have been a few new technologies that claim to accurately detect the large animals that cross our roadways. Each one has its own strengths and shortcomings. A close attention must be given to the selected site and the technology deployed based on its weather, vegetation, topography, and local animal types and sizes. In this project, we have reviewed a number of animal detection systems and selected one system with the most potential to serve the characteristics of the selected site and the local Deer. We did a preliminary test of the reliability of this system in a testbed in Lewistown, Montana. The results were encouraging. We also carefully selected a site that we felt could benefit the most from this safety improvement based on its physical and climatic characteristics as well as its high number of vehicle/animal crashes. We also designed and developed a data monitoring and recording system that records and archives the response of the driver to our designed animal warning signs. This system incorporates radars, video cameras, communication links, and computer hardware and software. In the next phase of this project, we will analyze the effectiveness of our entire system by analyzing the driver’s response to the animal warning signs. We will also continue our evaluation of reliability of the selected animal detection system both in study site and in Lewistown’s testbed.