My buddies and I were screaming down Floyd Hill at dusk, exhausted and exhilarated after a fall backpacking trip into the Ben Eiseman Hut, near Vail. The road looked relatively clear — to us, and to a massive bull elk who decided that the grass looked greener on the other side of Interstate 70. The spiky beast got up to speed with a couple of strides on the shoulder, then accelerated into the travel lanes. We were traveling at 75 mph when my buddy shouted and the elk leapt. If we had hit the road a second earlier, I would have been an elk hood-ornament.
As it was, the elk lived to cross the road another day, and I was left with a flashbulb memory of antlers, and one flashing elk eyeball. The Colorado Department of Transportation is similarly aware of animal mayhem, conducting a public awareness campaign by the name of “Wildlife on the Move!”
This time of year, animals are migrating from high country to low, right across your commuting route home, which is suddenly pitch black with the return to standard time and the slow march toward winter solstice. You’re 16% more likely to hit a beast after the clocks shift! CDOT has counted 54,189 critter collisions on Colorado roads since 2010.
It could be worse, of course. Michigan drivers hit 50,000 animals every year. And they have to live in Michigan!
CDOT builds animal-crossing ramps to help the elk off the road, and off your bumper. But that’s clearly not enough. As a public service, I am offering additional animal-safety measures the state should consider.
‘Tis the season … to avoid that moose
Raccoon babies are cute! If they make it to the other side
Our elk herds should take a genetic clue from the most famous reindeer of all
Even imaginary creatures can break your car, if you hit them
Of course, the best safety measures can fail. So you’ll need a fall-back plan.
Write your congressperson, now!
A study published in Current Biology determined that if Daylight Saving Time were made permanent, it would prevent 30,000 car-animal collisions annually, and save about a billion dollars.
