A model is developed to look at the probability of successful road traversing by mammals, based on Poisson-distributed arrivals of cars. It is a double 'blind' model presuming that a collision occurs when the animal and the car are on the same part of the road at the same time. When a car and an animal impact, two types of collisions can occur: 'car hits animal' and 'animal hits car'. The probability of these events, and thus the probability of successful road traversing by animals, is determined by road, traffic, vehicle, and species characteristics. Use of the model shows that, for the parameter ranges, traffic volume and the animals' traversing speed have the largest effects on whether a collision occurs. This model is applied to compare alternative network solutions and to evaluate traffic calming measures on a former arterial highway. It is shown that these measures are effective in mitigating traffic mortality among mammals. (A) "Reprinted with permission from Elsevier".
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