The OPP has responded to three moose collisions in two days late last week and five in the last two weeks on Highway 17 in Nipissing First Nation along the area referred to as the Sturgeon Stretch.
The collisions all took place in the dark evening hours. Some of the vehicle occupants incurred minor injuries.
Mattawa OPP has also received reports of three moose; a cow and two calves, blocking Highway 17 east of North Bay, near Pimisi Bay. Motorists reported that they had to actively scare the moose off the road.
There are some steps that you can take to help reduce the risk of a wildlife collision especially at night:
- Prepare yourself mentally. Think about and predict what you might do if an animal suddenly darted out in front of you or ran towards your vehicle.
- Reduce your speed. Speeding reduces the drivers’ ability to steer away from objects on the roadway, it extends the distance required to stop and it increases the force of impact in the event of a collision.
- Watch for movement along the sides of the road and for shining eyes, which will be your headlights reflecting off the animal’s eyes. NOTE: Moose are so tall that their eyes are normally above the beams of most vehicle headlights, so they are less likely to reflect the light.
What should you do if you hit a large animal?
- Pull off the road.
- Turn on hazard lights.
- Illuminate the animal with your headlights.
- You may choose to carefully approach the animal to determine if it is dead or injured. If it is injured, back off. A wounded animal can be very dangerous. Police can attend to dispatch wounded wildlife.
- You may choose to remove a dead animal from the road so that it does not present a hazard to other drivers.