00:04A little innovation going a long way in Queanbeyan.
00:081.2 kilometres of Max Reef Road to be exact.
00:12There's 48 of these devices and they're installed on either side of the road at 25 metre alternating intervals.
00:20Together the devices create a headlight activated virtual fence
00:24which uses high-pitched sounds and flashing lights to alert wildlife about approaching vehicles.
00:32It's certainly a hotspot over a period of 12 months.
00:35There'd be numerous kangaroo strikes, potentially wombat strikes.
00:40The manufacturer claim the technology can reduce wildlife strikes by about 50%.
00:44Council's spending $20,000 over 12 months to test that claim.
00:49If there's technology that can help to reduce the frequency of that,
00:52that's certainly beneficial for road safety.
00:56Over the past decade, virtual fencing's been trialled at around a dozen other Australian sites,
01:02but results are mixed.
01:05Council-led trials report massive declines in roadkill between 50 and 90%,
01:10while independent scientific evaluations have found little or no statistically significant reduction.
01:18We're going into it with an open mind to collect the evidence and then report it back to Council.
01:23Four months after the ACT Government rejected calls for a trial on Arendale Drive citing the mixed evidence,
01:30there are hopes Queenbeyanth trial will prompt a local rethink.
01:34If it doesn't work, we will know that that is not the right intervention,
01:37but if it does work, we've got a new cost-effective way to keep people safe and to keep wildlife
01:42safe.
01:42On the road to a possible resolution.
01:46On the road to a possible resolution.
01:48The way that we have to take it to the right direction.
01:49On the road to a possible resolution.
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