Transcript of Interview on CNN : Vehicle Collision with Moose, March 29, 2010

Maine State Library Digital Maine Transportation Documents Transportation 3-29-2010 Transcript of Interview on CNN : Vehicle Collision with Moose, March 29, 2010 Maine Department of Transportation Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalmaine.com/mdot_docs Recommended Citation Maine Department of Transportation, "Transcript of Interview on CNN : Vehicle Collision with Moose, March 29, 2010" (2010). Transportation Documents. 3306. https://digitalmaine.com/mdot_docs/3306 This Text is brought to you for free and open access by the Transportation at Digital Maine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Transportation Documents by an authorized administrator of Digital Maine. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Now if you haven't had a close call with a deer while driving, you probably don't drive a whole lot, because 1.5 million times a year, someone hits one. It is terrifying, but not nearly as frightening as what you're about to see, and it's something to keep in mind as you and your family might hit the road for a summer vacation. What is it? Rob Marciano has the answer in tonight's "Eye Opener." (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Imagine your car plowing into 1,000 pounds of dead weight at night, and you never saw it coming. BERNICE CLAYTON-SECA, CRASH VICTIM: They're impossible to see. I've had my high beams on, and constantly scan -- they're from this shoulder to the road to the shoulder to the road, constantly scanning, all the time. And I didn't see him. MARCIANO: A massive animal shot through the Bernice Clayton- Seca's Chevy Lumina like a missile. She's lucky to be alive. CLAYTON-SECA: They're very, very dark, their eyes don't reflect, and besides your headlights aren't reflecting that high up. They're a tall -- they're very tall animals. MARCIANO: Bernice escaped with a bump on the head and a broken hand. Amazingly minor injuries when you consider that a moose, easily half a ton, flew through her windshield at 60 miles- an-hour. The massive animal ended up in her backseat with its head and neck through the back glass, resting on the trunk. Moose are found in northern states from New England to Washington and south into the Colorado Rockies. In scenic areas where families vacation and take summer road trips, they're especially dangerous. Signs on Route 4 in Maine warn of the danger. Duane Brunell of Maine DOT says 80 percent of crashes happen at night. He says deer collisions are more common throughout the United States, but that most people don't realize moose pose a danger too, in unexpected places. DUANE BRUNELL, MAINE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT: If you struck a moos, and they have fairly spindly, skinny legs, you hit a moose and you clip those legs out from underneath it, all that body weight is coming out the passenger compartment. MARCIANO: Just 40 miles west of Boston, this enormous bull moose became an unwanted passenger, sitting in the front seat with its head sticking through the windshield. As incredible as it seems, the driver was OK. Emergency workers had to remove the roof of the car to extricate the moose, which later died. (on camera): Late spring and early summer is prime time for moose on the roadways. Moose collisions here in Maine peak in the month of June. They come out to the roads because there's actually salt left over from when they cleared the roads during the winter months and the moose like the taste of that sold, they like that nutrient. There's actually tracks that come across the road -- look how pressed those tracks are and well-defined on. They continue down into what's called the moose wallow, where the moose actually hang out and feed. (voice-over): Maine's wildlife biologist Eugene Dumont has studied the moose in their natural habitat for 34 years. He says when it comes to traffic, these animals have no fear. GENE DUMONT, WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST: They've evolved to the point where because of their size, that they don't really fear other objects. In fact, their method of defense when they have a natural predator like a wolf, is to stand their ground. So they'll tend to stand their ground with a pickup truck or a car or a big logging truck coming at their way. MARCIANO (on camera): Now that it's dusk, this is a time when the moose finally come out into the open. You can see this mature bull moose easily 1,000 pounds out in the wild now, taking in some nourishment. But the real danger comes when night falls and these animals begin to wander out into the road. (voice-over): At night, the moose are tough to spot. You can see this one on the side of the road only after a high-powered flashlight is pointed directly at it. And it's not just remote roads deep in the woods that are dangerous. Busy highways can be deadly. Cindy Lincoln wasn't in the car with her family 10 years ago. Her husband Stephen was driving the kids home on Interstate 95 in Maine. Cindy's son Steve had been up front with his dad, while daughter Heidi was asleep in the back seat. HEIDI LINCOLN, SURVIVE MOOSE COLLISION: When I woke up in a startle from the dream that I had, the moose was hitting the exact same time it was all happening. And I feel like I looked at that moose straight in his eyes. And I remember him flying over the car into the left side. MARCIANO: The 1,300-pound animal crushed the driver's side and Cindy's husband died in the collision. His feet were still on the brake when the police arrived. STEVE LINCOLN JR., SURVIVED MOOSE-CAR CRASH: It's just a speechless feeling. I look over and I see a very gruesome scene that I never want to see again in my entire life. MARCIANO: Ten years later, Cindy Lincoln has made a good life for her family. CINDY LINCOLN, WIDOWED BY MOOSE COLLISION: Everything I've done I think he would be proud. I hope he would. I think I've done OK, but it certainly has not been easy. I miss my husband a lot. MARCIANO: It's almost certain that there will be similar tragedies in the coming months. There's no surefire way to avoid collisions with moose, but it helps to be alert, especially when driving at night, and of course, to slow down. Rob Marciano, Augusta, Maine. (END VIDEOTAPE) ZAHN: Another thing to add here, some victims of moose collisions are pushing for legislation in Maine to increase the number of moose hunting licenses, but it's being hotly debated whether actually thinning the moose population would bring down the number of accidents on the road. .

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