When most rural roads were unpaved and when cars were of simpler design, rural driving speeds were generally lower. Over the last two decades there has been a complex revolution in American driving. There are more cars on the roads. The roads have been improved. The cars have better suspension, steering and braking systems.
New headlights allow cars to drive much faster at night.
Today, even pickup trucks have handling characteristics superior to cars of the 1960's. The high speeds of vehicles, habitat fragmentation, the imbalances in some wild populations which lead to unusual migrations or risky food acquisition behaviors all create conditions where increased numbers of road kills can occur. The paved road thus must be regarded as a critical edge zone in the human encounter with wildlife just as it is an important waterway in the wateshed system. For many people their closest encounters with any wild animal comes in a blurred flash of fur under their headlights and a dull thump under their car. For others, the only wildlife they regularly see is the grotesquely distorted forms of animals slain along the roads.