Extra Special Pets & Animals
Jun 19, 2009 10:53 pm US/Central
New Signs Flash, Alert Drivers When Deer Are Near
MARSHALL, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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In the past month, 'CCO has reported stories of deer jumping over a trooper's car, wandering downtown Minneapolis streets and, worst of all, causing the death of a motorcyclist on Interstate 694.
CBS
WCCO-TV didn't have to look far to find someone who'd had a close encounter of the deer kind. 'CCO photojournalist Tony Peterson hit two last year.
"Totaled the car," he said. "I had to drive 45 miles holding the door shut until we reached the destination."
"I am a deer hunter, but I've also hit 11 deer," said Joe Berglove, WCCO's Good Question photographer.
It's a good thing Berglove is tight with his insurance agent. He'll never forget deer crash number nine. He was up near Mille Lacs telling a friend about his bad luck with deer.
"I said, 'You won't believe how many deer I've hit.'" recalled Berglove. "Less than five seconds after I said that -- boom -- one came and crashed in to the side of my truck."
In the past month, 'CCO has reported stories of deer jumping over a trooper's car, wandering downtown Minneapolis streets and, worst of all, causing the death of a motorcyclist on Interstate 694.
"The vast majority of people that are killed in deer-vehicle crashes are motorcyclists," said Bob Weinholzer of the Minnesota Department of Transportation. "In fact, a couple years ago in Iowa, 11 people were killed. All 11 were motorcyclists."
Weinholzer is the unofficial deer guy at MnDOT. He'll tell you what won't work: yellow deer crossing signs. In fact, the state no longer puts them up. What does prevent deer crashes? Weinholzer says it's something they've tested south of Marshall, Minn.
"It's a system where along the roadway are standard deer signs, but they have flashers on them," he said.
There are also posts alongside the road. Each one sends a couple beams of light to the next post, which sends them to the next one, all down the stretch of road.
"When those beams of light are broken," explained Weinholzer, "It turns on the flasher on the sign and the flasher runs for 45 seconds. And I'll tell you at night when deer are out and around, you really can see, you can see it a couple miles away."
At first the system was powered with regular batteries, but there were so many deer detected, the batteries ran out after a few days. Now it's powered by solar energy.
The MnDOT study found a 57-percent decrease in the number of deer carcasses found along that road. Weinholzer says it's the future of deer detection, but the study is unlikely to expand until the economy and the state budget improve.
Weinholzer said, "People were paying attention to that sign. They were seeing the flashing, they see picture of the deer, and they think something's got to be here."
They slowed, they looked, they missed the deer and the deer story that would have come with it.
Paula Engelking, Producer
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