The amount of wildlife being hit on Highway 75 is absurd. The number of signs for game crossings is equally absurd.
Who in their right mind would want to hit an elk or a moose or even a deer? Just think of the damage to your vehicle, not to mention the injuries and possible loss of life to yourself or passengers. Why not spend the money for more game crossing signs and lower the speed limit by 10 miles per hour after dusk?
Washington and Oregon adopted a law into legislation for hitting game on the roadway: you pay to fix your rig on your own, insurance will not pay, and it is also considered inattentive driving. It is too bad that Idaho doesn't follow suit. More so, hitting wild game should be considered poaching.
How many animals get hit because the driver is talking on a cell phone? Let's make it against the law to drive and talk on the cell phone as well.
The amount of game being hit on Idaho roadways is incomprehensible. People should know that wild game will not step out of the way of a moving vehicle. For God sakes, anyone who has lived in the Wood River Valley for any length of time should know that the whole valley is a major migration area for wildlife. Look at it from a different perspective. Wild game and children are much the same. Both are innocent. If the wild game were children, people would be thrown in jail for vehicular manslaughter.
Does anyone know the amount of game that is harvested during hunting season? Do you know the amount of game being slaughtered on Idaho roadways? It is huge. Just in one week, I saw four elk that had been hit between Hailey and Ketchum. At this rate, within 20 years, wild game will be seriously diminished.
I have lived in wildlife habitat areas all of my life and I have been driving for over 30 years. I have not yet hit any wild game. Let's get in and do something to help protect the wild game that we have left.
Kelly Heuett
Bellevue
