Research on lighting system could help reduce deer collisions

Deer may be disoriented by vehicle headlights and do not immediately recognize cars, according to a new study. Thus, cars become something of a high speed predator that deer fail to flee from until it’s too late.

The new study focuses on a lighting system for the car that illuminates a larger portion of the vehicle’s front surface than standard headlights alone. In early work, researchers have found that the new lighting system takes advantage of the deer’s ‘flight behavior,’ or its natural instinct to avoid predators.