Bug zappers

Chris Raper cmt.raper at triocomp.co.uk
Tue Oct 31 06:27:44 EST 2000


On 30 Oct 2000 17:31:01 -0800, cherubini at mindspring.com (Paul
Cherubini) wrote:

>Another insect conservation issue the anti-collectors & anti-releasers seem
>loathe to tackle is roadside mowing. I think we can all agree that for auto safety
>and road maintenance reasons a small band of roadside soil needs to be
>maintained free of excessive weed growth

Here in the UK we also suffer from excessive cutting too. The problem
as I see it is that people assume that with better visibility comes
safety. To a degree that is true but humans tend to drive faster where
they think visibility is best and thereby add more risk. Where
visibility is poor or the road is narrow they drive slower and the
accidents (if they happen) are less life-threatening.

They did a good experiment with railway level-crossings a few years
back in America (I think). They noticed some drivers were crossing
over at a speed that was too high to avoid being hit by a train so
they cut loads of trees down to improve visibilty and they watched
again. The nett effect was that the drivers increased their speed so
they were actually taking the same amount of risk as they were before
the trees were cut!

I say - thin a bit around T-junctions and otherwise leave the road
verges alone. Manage them as you would a hay meadow and force the
drivers to slow down a bit. ;-)

Best wishes,
Chris R.

 
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