Connie Sall has two words of advice for drivers to minimize the risk of colliding with an animal: Slow down.
As branch director for Western Financial Group in Fort St. John, Sall knows what she鈥檚 talking about. She said clients report a higher incident rate involving collisions with wildlife during winter months than in summer months.
There is reason to be extra cautious: From 1988 to 2007, there were 65 per cent more deer collisions in November, December and January than the next three months, according to data from British Columbia鈥檚 Wildlife Accident Reporting System (WARS).
Most accidents involving animals in the Peace River District involve deer. About 400 collisions per year involved deer, followed by moose (140), elk (14) and bears (7).
According to data from ICBC, there were 2,700 collisions on average per year involving animals from 2008 to 2012 in northern B.C. Those resulted in 140 injuries and three deaths per year on average. 听
The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure warns that collisions with moose and deer rise substantially in the winter months. Between 2002 and 2011, 669 moose were killed in January, as opposed to 177 during May.
鈥淭he low visibility of moose at night is wise to consider now, with daylight hours at their shortest,鈥� the ministry warns. 鈥淎nd if you live or travel in northern B.C., where about 70 per cent of B.C.鈥檚 approximately 210,000 moose dwell, you鈥檝e got the longest hours of darkness in the province.鈥�
Kate Trotter, a ministry spokesperson, said that B.C. has a lower incidence of wildlife kills than the other Western 91原创 provinces that also have an abundance of wildlife.
鈥淗undreds of ministry employees and contractors throughout the province are actively involved in monitoring wildlife incidents, and propose and develop solutions where possible,鈥� she said.
But that鈥檚 no reason to be complacent, she added. Trotter suggested taking precautions to minimize the chance of colliding with an animal: Pay attention and drive at the posted speed limit; drive at reduced speeds from dusk to dawn when animals are more active; keep the inside and outside of windshields clean; have good tires that are properly inflated; check your route on DriveBC, where areas of wildlife activity are reported.
Sall said safe driving and comprehensive insurance are a good place to start. She explained that claims involving comprehensive insurance would not impact your driving record or safe driving discount, but a collision claim would.
She advises being extra careful in the morning, evening and at night, when collisions are more common.
鈥淩ight now the roads are icy, so you need to slow down. Just slow down when other cars are behaving differently.鈥�
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