Why Won’t People Focus On Roads And Slow Down In Wyoming?

Summer vacation in Wyoming, gives many opportunities for visitors from all over the country to come sample everything offered by the Cowboy state. One of those opportunities is seeing the large variety of wildlife that roam around the state.

The problem is that people are in such a hurry they're driving too fast and coming in contact with the wildlife. When I say coming into contact, I don't mean in the 'petting the fluffy cow' contact, but vehicle/ animal contact.

Every week the number of animal fatalities is increasing because of people driving too fast and not being on the lookout for animals.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jessica Hadley (@takethewildroad)

There are conservation organizations all over the state of Wyoming, like Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Mule Deer Foundation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Wyoming Wilderness Association, Wyoming Wildlife Federation and others that dedicate time and efforts to work on eliminating these vehicle/ animal collisions.

The problem is, there isn't enough money, time or manpower to place animal crossings every mile around Wyoming. Imagine how much it would cost to do that. When in reality, if you know you're in a high animal area, slow down and pay attention.

There are animal crossing signs all over Wyoming and they're there because the area is a know area for animal activity. Keeping an eye out for these signs, the animals that may be in the area and slowing down, will make an impact on lowering these vehicle/ animal collisions.

According to WGFD, there are an average of 6,000 vehicle/big game collisions every year. That's a huge number and when you total it up financially, it's between $20-23 million in wildlife costs and $24-29 million in human injuries.

15% of all Wyoming crashes, involve wildlife.

Do your part and help keep the wildlife safe from your car, truck, van, SUV, motorhome or motorcycle, by keeping at least 30 seconds between you and the vehicle ahead of you, slowing down and keeping your eyes peeled in high animal activity areas.