BOUNDARY COUNTY, Idaho – A new state of the art piece of equipment could reduce the number of crashes and wildfires on Idaho highways.
The Idaho Transportation Department is hoping to change that with a new radar system. The system uses Doppler radar to detect animals that may be crossing roads. The new system is from Sloan Security.
"This is the world's first mobile animal detection system,” Sloan Security’s Brice Sloan said. “No one has ever done that before.”
The Boise-based security company developed the technology that uses radar and thermal imaging to detect nearby animals then notifies drivers with warning lights.
"We know we've saved lives, and that's a really, really good feeling," Sloan said.
It cost nearly $3,000 to clean up after a car hits a deer. Animal and car collisions cost Idaho drivers nearly $20 million.
The new radar promises to provide more accurate information.
"It is quite reliable," Western Transportation Institute’s Marcel Huijser said.
He said crashes could be potentially reduced by 80 percent. They still have not gotten the complete data since the system went in but the radars are still much cheaper than car repairs.
"It can be less expensive to implement effective mitigation measures than it is to let these collisions continue to occur," Huijser said.
