Interventions to slow down drivers and reduce wildlife collisions

What unsustainable behavior needs to change:

Gelderland Province offers abundant natural beauty that’s cherished by both humans and animals. Nevertheless, where nature and human activities intersect, accidents can occur. In the Netherlands, thousands of wildlife collisions happen annually, often due to speeding motorists unaware of animals along the roads. This behaviour poses risks to both traffic safety and animal welfare. 

Additionally, the annual shift in daylight patterns brings earlier darkness. While wild animals maintain their regular rhythms, human travel occurs later; thus contributing to an increase in wildlife collisions.

The Green Nudge:

To mitigate this issue of wildlife collisions, creative agency ANDC has developed interventions targeting motorists‘ behaviour.

Their research identified three promising approaches: capturing attention and offering actionable perspectives, heightening risk perception, and reinforcing desired behaviours among the respective target audience (drivers).

Signs were created to welcome motorists into the wildlife domain, fostering a sense of being “guests” in the animals‘ territory. These signs concluded with a clear demarcation, distinctly outlining the area’s boundaries. Furthermore, in order to amplify the perception of risk, a dynamic light sign was developed to indicate the frequency of wild animal crossings.. Finally, strategically positioned silhouettes of wild animals along the road served as attention-grabbing symbols to evoke associations with the local wildlife.

The result: This set of interventions significantly reduced the speed of motorists. In the short term, the average speed decreased by 3.64 km/h. Over the long term, the average speed was consistently lower, showing a reduction of 5.19 km/h on average.

Are you aware of any other nudges that help to protect wildlife? Feel free to get in touch: hello@green-nudges.com