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Sharing the road with bison Mid-August to mid-December when 70 to 75 per cent
of collisions with the animals occur
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, August 26, 2013
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Drive with caution. That is the main piece of advice offered by Fort Providence's Sam Gargan, who hit a bison in the mid-1980s.
Bison block Highway 5 as a truck approaches on Aug. 19. The southern NWT is now entering bison season and the GNWT is cautioning motorists of the increased number of the animals on the highways. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo |
Bison season began Aug. 15, and it is during this period between mid-August and mid-December when drivers on highways 3, 5 and 7 are most at risk of a bison collision.
That date also marked the beginning of a GNWT initiative, now in its sixth year, to warn motorists of the danger of bison on the highways through Drive Alive, the government's travel safety information program.
Gargan, former MLA for Dehcho and former grand chief of Dehcho First Nations, collided with a bison at Birch Creek while heading south one night on Highway 3, about 70 km south of Behchoko.
"I ran into the bison just when I was going over the hill," he said. "It was standing right in the middle of the road. And I swerved to miss it, but it still got me on the fender."
Gargan, who was an MLA at the time, was uninjured and the bison survived the glancing impact.
"I think night-driving, you should slow down, most definitely," he said. "In the wintertime, bison are more predictable because you can actually see their tracks. If you see tracks in the snow, you should slow right down because it means they're somewhere in that vicinity."
Earl Blacklock, spokesperson with the Department of Transportation, said 70 to 75 per cent of all bison collisions occur in the next four months, particularly along highways 3 and 5.
He said Highway 3 is the most dangerous by far since it passes through the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary.
That area remains hazardous even though an anthrax outbreak last summer killed more than half the bison herd. A population estimate from March of this year came in at 714 animals, compared to 1,530 at the same time last year.
Collisions with bison occur as a result of three main factors.
Some motorists drive at speeds too fast for conditions, particularly after dusk and at night.
"If you're driving at night and you're going faster than the speed limit and there is a bison on the road ahead, you're not going to miss that bison," Blacklock said. "If you calculate the amount of time it takes to brake at 105 km/h, you are going to hit that bison or you're going to hit the ditch, and we really encourage people not to hit the ditch."
Blacklock said drivers generally have more control if they stay on the highway and the data shows they are safer if they keep their vehicles upright.
In the past few years, one passenger in a vehicle was killed after the vehicle went into a ditch after the driver attempted to avoid hitting a bison.
The second factor in collisions is increased high-risk hours of darkness during bison season.
"If people never drove during nighttime hours, we'd have no bison collisions," Blacklock said. "So if they're going to drive at nighttime hours, at least make sure that they're going to respect the speed limits and that they've got their headlights really clean."
The third factor is many drivers are unaware that on Highway 3, where the majority of bison collisions occur, the animals can be encountered only 20 km from Yellowknife.
The bison season seems to be broken up into sections, beginning from mid-August to after Labour Day when people are returning from vacation, Blacklock said.
"They're at the end of the day and they're tired and not paying attention, so they end up not taking the care that they need."
Blacklock added that, after Labour Day, the hours of darkness seem to be the major factor.
As for after Thanksgiving, he said bison seem more likely to be on the roadway.
"They're just sort of meandering a lot more in search of food because the food is covered by snow."
In2007, the number of vehicle collisions with bison was 18, as reported to the RCMP. Of that, 13 were on Highway 3, four on Highway 5 and one on Highway 7.
There were 31 reported collisions in 2008, 16 in 2009, 20 in 2010, and eight in 2011. It was an average year for collisions in 2012, with 16 reported instances.
So far in 2013, there have been four reported collisions.
Blacklock said not all collisions are reported, even though motorists are legally required to do so.
Blacklock said a rule of thumb is there are about 60 per cent more collisions each year than what are reported to the RCMP. That estimate is based on the number of bison carcasses removed from on or near highways by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Tim Gauthier, a communications officer with Wood Buffalo National Park, also advises caution.
"The important thing is to slow down, especially in darkness. You get very, very little warning unless you see the glint of a bison's eye," he said. "They can swallow your headlights, no problem. They're large, dark animals. As a friend of mine put it, they are the dark spot in the darkness."
Gauthier said the GNWT and Parks Canada share a concern for people getting home safely.
"We encourage great caution this time of year," he said. "The big change coming on is that, of course, we're getting darker and darker nights, and with the bison being more active during breeding season, they're going to be out more."
Wood Buffalo National Park contains the world's largest free-roaming herd of bison - in excess of 5,000 animals.
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