Anyone who sets out on the road early in the morning should watch out for crossing deer, roe deer and wild boars. Now that daylight saving time has started, the risk of collisions with those animals has increased. The animals are not yet used to having their clocks set one hour ahead because of daylight saving time and are now crossing the road exactly during the morning and evening rush hours.
“You see that deer forage in the dark for their food on lawns,” a spokesperson for the Hunters’ Association told RTV Drenthe† “When it gets light, they retreat to cover. So to the woods. And then they cross the road.”
“Last weekend the clocks were turned back, but of course such a deer does not see that. Last week it was already light in the morning around 07:00 and the deer had left the field,” reports the spokesman. “But now it is still twilight, while the rush hour in traffic is getting underway. Then you get such conflicts on the road.”
Matrix boards
In Gelderland, the municipality of Ede has placed matrix signs along the provincial road N224 between Ede and Arnhem to warn motorists. The N224 runs right through the Veluwe nature with lots of big game on both sides of the road. The speed limit is 80 kilometers per hour. The ANWB also advises traffic to be extra careful in areas with game.
In the Netherlands, about 8,000 deer, roe deer and boars are killed every year. One in seven animals is killed in Gelderland, in which the N224 plays an important role, according to figures from insurers and the Stichting Wildaanrijdingen Nederland.
–
