How much does roadkill cost society? Both in accidents, injuries, and the ecological toll? I bet nobody’s done the numbers, but it seems to me that if we can reduce road kill, then nobody is going to lose out. This is a series of ideas I had.
Idea 1: A drone that flies 50 m in front of the car, if it identifies an animal it can buzz down to try and shoe it away from the road or it can just “sound the alarm” (visually) so you know to start hitting the brakes RIGHT NOW. Problem is that no drone can go 100km/h for 3 hours, so it’s useless for a trip down the coast.
Idea 2: Drones that sit along side the road and essentially guard the perimeter of the road…
Idea 3: An attachment on every single one of those red and white reflectors on the side of the road to give it a heat sensing camera and some smarts to identify animals and a light. When one of the reflectors detects an animal it communicates to all the other reflectors around it which can also light up to alert a user that there is an obstruction/animal on the road up ahead and to start slowing down. The reflector that has detected the animal can also shine a light on it (and you’ll probably get multiple) to illuminate it so that it can be seen on dark roads well in advance.