5 ways drivers can avoid collisions with wildlife

Superior Morning3:32Sharing The Road

The traffic injury research foundation has advice on how to prevent collisions with wildlife.

A Canadian road safety research institute has launched an online resource centre with the aim of reducing the number of collisions between cars and wildlife.

A researcher with the Traffic Injury Research Foundation, which is also a registered charity,told CBC News in Thunder Bay that every year thousands of people across Canada, includingnorthwestern Ontario, are involved in accidents with animals.

"We wanted to show andgive people resources abouthow to respond to wildlife, what they could do to prevent a collision with wildlife, and what to do after a collision," Shawna Meister said of the new website.

Meisternoted there are more collisions at this time of year because large animals like moose are more active.

The group offers the following tips on how to avoid a collision with wildlife:

1. Don't drive distracted.
2. Visualize how you would respond to animals in different situations because it can be different every time.
3. Drive defensively. Even if you know how to respond to wildlife on the road, other drivers may not, so you need to be prepared for that risk.
4. Try to avoiddrivingone hour before or after dawn or dusk. Animalsare most active and our vision is more limited, during these periods.
5. Do not swerve if you encounter wildlife on the road. In the majority of cases, swerving causes more accidents as people run into another vehicle or they drive into a roadside hazard.