Dogs are the main species involved in animal-vehicle collisions in southern Spain: daily, seasonal and spatial analyses of collisions.

Animal-vehicle collisions have become a serious traffic safety issue. Collisions have steadily increased over the last few decades, as have their associated socio-economic costs. Here, we explore the spatial and temporal patterns of animal-vehicle collisions reported to authorities in the province of Seville, southern Spain. Most animal-vehicle collisions involved domestic animals (>95%), particularly dogs (>80%), a pattern that sharply contrasts with that found in other Spanish and European regions, where collisions are mostly caused by game species. Dog-vehicle collisions were related to the traffic intensity of the roads and they were more frequent around dawn and dusk, coinciding with the peaks of activity of dogs. This pattern was consistent throughout the week, although on weekends there were fewer collisions due to lower traffic density at those times. These findings suggest that the aggregation of dog-vehicle collisions around twilight likely resulted from a combined effect of the activity peaks of dogs and traffic density. Seasonally, collisions increased in autumn and winter, coinciding with the period of intense hunting activity in the region. Further, during autumn and winter, rush hour partly overlaps with twilight due to longer nights in comparison with summer and spring, which may contribute to the increased rate of dog-vehicle collisions in these seasons. Spatially, satellite images of nighttime lights showed that dog-vehicle collisions were clustered near urban areas. Overall, the high incidence of stray dogs involved in animal-vehicle collisions highlights a road safety issue with this type of animals in the region.

Datos y Recursos

Cite como

Canal D. Martín B. de Lucas M. y Ferrer M. Dogs are the main species involved in animal-vehicle collisions in southern Spain: daily seasonal and spatial analyses of collisions. Public Library of Science, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203693

Clipboard Icon
Recuperado: 20 Jan 2025 12:23:11

Metadatos

Información básica
Tipo de recurso Texto
Fecha de creación 02-12-2024
Fecha de última modificación 20-01-2025
Mostrar histórico de cambios
Identificador de los metadatos eb09b213-34c8-51d0-b925-922bf4133701
Idioma de los metadatos Español
Temáticas (NTI-RISP)
Categoría del conjunto de alto valor (HVD)
Categoría temática ISO 19115
URI de palabras clave
Información bibliográfica
Nombre del autor Canal, D., Martín, B., de Lucas, M. y Ferrer, M.
Nombre del editor Public Library of Science
Identificador alternativo DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0203693
Identificador del autor
Email del autor
Web del autor
Procedencia
Declaración de linaje
Perfil de Metadatos
Notas sobre la versión
Versión