It’s more than treacherous winter conditions Cariboo motorists might to keep in mind, but moose collisions.
A new study by Roy Rea, a senior instructor at the University of Northern BC, has discovered that winter is the most likely season for drivers to hit a moose and says the areas where collisions are likely to occur are constantly changing.
“The Ministry of Transportation and their maintenance contractors are working hard to make sure those signs actually reflect where those collisions are happening, i.e ‘hot spots’.”
“The best way to describe to you where those hot spots are is to tell you where the signs are. So look for the signs are if you’re out driving the roads and look for where signs are and keep in mind that these reflect the most current data where collisions are taking place.”
Rea, who also compared moose collisions world-wide says although there are significant differences in peak times, most collisions with moose happen at night.
“So whether that’s in the late afternoon in the middle of winter or if it’s in the middle of the night during the summer, most moose are getting hit in the dark because that’s when they’re most active.”
There were 335 collisions with moose reported on BC highways in 2012 according to the BC Ministry of Transportation.