Experiencing moose and landscape while driving: A simulator and questionnaire study

Animal vehicle collisions (AVC's) have large economic, medical and ecological consequences but have rarely been studied with respect to driver behaviour. The aim of this study was to investigate different AVC-relevant landscape settings (vegetation cover), with and without game fencing and in combination with encountering moose. Twenty-five participants took part in an advanced driving simulator experiment. The results show that neither the presence of a game fence nor vegetation was found to affect driving speed, speed variability, lateral position or visual scanning in general. When a moose appeared at the side of the road, the drivers reacted by slowing down earlier and reducing their speed more when no game fence was present. Furthermore, the speed reduction when a moose was present was significantly larger when the vegetation was sparse. Game fencing made drivers feel at ease whereas dense vegetation was experienced as more stressful.