Watch For Wildlife On The Road This Spring

With Spring, comes longer days and greener roadsides.

With that, comes a sharp rise in animals trying to cross the street.

Road Safety at Work is urging  drivers to watch for animals crossing roads during peak wildlife activity periods.

Program director at Road Safety at Work, Trace Acres, says animals don’t follow traffic rules, noting that even a small deer can cause a serious crash, and it often happens before the driver has time to react.

In BC in 2023, nearly 13-thousand crashes occurred where animals were involved, with more than a thousand people injured.

Drivers are more likely to encounter deer in the month of May.

Moose activity increases in June and July.

Over a five year period ending in 2023, Vancouver Island, which also includes the Gulf Islands and Powell River, averaged about 22-hundred accidents annually involving animals, with 185 people injured.

Road Safety at Work says crashes are most common during dawn and dusk when animals are on the move and visibility can be a challenge due to sun shining in drivers’ eyes.

Acres says reducing the risk starts with preparation and awareness.

“You can’t predict what an animal will do but you can adjust your driving to lower your chances of a crash.”

Road Safety at Work is a WorkSafeBC Injury Reduction Initiative managed by the Justice Institute of BC. It aims to eliminate work-related motor vehicle crashes, deaths, and injuries.

Learn how to prevent them by viewing a recorded webinar at Road Safety at Work.