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When you're driving down the highway it's hard to avoid a deer because you never know when it's coming.
车辆行驶在高速公路上时往往很难避开穿行的鹿，因为你永远不知道它什么时候会窜出来。
By the do time you see it, it's often too late.
等到你看到它时，往往已经晚了。
But what if there were crossings for animals just like the ones used by humans?
但是，如果动物也有人类那样的交叉路口呢？
In some places, planners have built exactly that and data shows that animals are using them,
一些地方的规划人员已经建起了这样的路口，而且，数据显示，这些路口已经为动物们所用了，
which means that close calls like this are far less likely to happen.
这就意味着类似这样的死里逃生再次发生的几率会比之前小得多。
Hitting an animal is a risk anywhere roads are built through animal habitats.
凡是穿过动物栖息地的道路，车辆经过时都有撞到动物的风险。
And as more roads are built, there are more opportunities for collisions.
随着我们修建的道路越来越多，发生事故的可能性也越来越高。
According to a 2008 study commissioned by the US Congress, the number of animal vehicle collisions was increasing.
美国国会2008年委托开展的一项研究显示，车辆撞到动物的事故数量正在增加。
Experts blamed the rise on more vehicle miles traveled combined with a growing North American deer population.
专家们认为，这是因为人们行驶路程的增加，加上北美鹿群数量的增加引起的。
But the official tally excludes accidents that have less than $1,000 in property damage.
然而，官方的统计并未考虑造成的财产损失在1000美元以下的那些事故。
If you account for minor collisions, unreported accidents and other variables,
如果我们把程度较轻的事故，未报告的事故以及其他因素都考虑进来的话，
experts estimate at least one million collisions with large animals meaning deer, elk, and moose occur every year in the United States.
专家估计，美国每年发生的车辆撞上鹿，麋鹿和驼鹿等大型动物的事故总量在100万起以上。
And while animal vehicle collisions rarely cost lives, they do cost money.
而且，尽管这类事故很少会造成死亡，但还是造成了大量的经济损失。
In the US, wildlife vehicle collisions cost over $8 billion dollars every year.
在美国，这类事故每年的耗费都在80亿以上。
Money that is spent on vehicle repairs, medical costs, and other expenses.
那些钱都花在了车辆维修，医疗费用和其他费用上。
And although humans tend to survive, animals often get killed.
而且，尽管人往往可以从这类事故中活下来，动物们通常都难以幸免。
In the same report, researchers found that vehicular traffic threatened 21 endangered including the bighorn sheep.
在同一份报告中，研究人员还指出，车辆的通行还威胁到了包括大角羊在内的21种濒危物种的生存。
In some places, highway planners have solved the problem by building fences to keep animals off the road.
在某些地方，高速公路的规划者想出了修建围栏，让动物远离道路的办法。
A relatively cheap solution that has been proven to reduce roadkill by over 50%.
这种办法相对廉价，而且的确可以将事故率降低50％以上。
But although fencing reduces roadkill,
然而，尽管修建围栏能够减少动物路毙的几率，
it neglects a wider problem:
但它忽略了一个更广泛的问题：
Besides the risk of collision, roads harm animals by dividing wildlife populations and limiting their ability to find mates, food, and other necessities of life.
道路除了会带来动物被撞的风险，还会对野生动物群造成更大的伤害：将它们分散开来，影响它们交配、觅食和其他生存必需的行为。
In Canada, wildlife scientist Tony Clevenger has been studying how road construction affects animals in Banff National Park.
在加拿大，野生动物科学家Tony Clevenger一直在研究道路建设对班夫国家公园里动物的影响。
"It can have important impacts on the reproductive success
“道路的建设严重影响动物的繁殖，
because females aren't being able to access important spring habitat because they are not crossing the highway,
因为雌性无法穿过高速的话，就无法到达一些重要的栖地，
So it's important that we maintain these movements，and we maintain this access to the important biological resources throughout the year
所以，维持它们的这种流动性，保证动物们一年四季都能获得重要的生物资源非常重要，
and wildlife crossing structures do that. "
野生动物路口设施就能做到这一点。”
Beginning in the 1980s, authorities began installing a system of underpasses and overpasses in Banff.
从20世纪80年代开始，当局就已经开始在班夫国家公园修建地下通道和立交桥系统。
The structures were for animal use only and were located where animals were likely to cross the road.
这些设施仅供动物使用，且恰好修建于动物可能会穿行的地方。
"The data speaks for itself, for example here on the Trans-Canada Highway in Banff National Park,
“数据自己会说话，班夫国家公园的加拿大横贯公路上，
there were on average more than one hundred elk-vehicle collisions per year before the fencing and the wildlife crossing structures
在修建围栏和野生动物路口设施之前，这里平均每年都会发生一百多起车辆撞上麋鹿的事故，
and now it's down to less than a half dozen.
如今已经跌到了不到六起。
So these are huge reductions by having these mitigation measures in place that are improving motorist safety.
所以，这些改善驾驶安全的缓解措施能够发挥巨大的作用。
They are saving lives, and also, in a protected area like Banff National Park, it's important because the objective of this National Park is to protect wildlife. "
它们不仅能够拯救生命，而且对班夫国家公园这种动物保护区而言非常重要，因为公园的初衷就是为了保护野生动物。
