Michigan Car-Deer Accidents: Would A Smart Phone App Help?

In Finland, they have a problem with people hitting reindeer (caribou) with their cars. Especially at night on dark, rural roads. Car/deer accidents are something we in Michigan are familiar with, of course. But, in Finland, where a lot of the reindeer are domesticated, they've taken some interesting steps to remedy the situation.

According to a Yahoo Tech article, first they tried painting the antlers with fluorescent paint. (I know - the song says it's supposed to be Rudolph's nose, but...) The reindeer rubbed the paint off. Then some of the "reindeer herders" hung reflectors around their reindeer's necks. Drivers just thought they were people wearing reflectors, who would never jump into the middle of the road. They were wrong.

And now somebody has come up with a smart phone app, that allows people to report where they've seen reindeer by the side of the road. Sorta like a mobile, up-dated "deer crossing" sign. They're testing the app now with truck drivers to see how it works before making the app public.

Just my two cents, but if the Michigan DNR could come up with an app that would locate big whitetail bucks and also paint their antlers with glow-in-the-dark paint - that would be helpful. And if you could get that done by October 1st, that would be great.

You know - for safety.

Here's the story. With an actual photo of glow-in-the-dark reindeer antlers.

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