Utrecht town residents want to use live animals to stop speeders

Residents of the Utrecht town of Overberg have a novel idea on how to stop speeding. Instead of using speed bumps or cameras, they want to use live animals. This is already done in a small scale by local farmer Gerry. Her neighbor now wants to expand it, RTL Nieuws reports.

Gerry lives just inside the built-up area where a speed limit of 30 kilometers per hour applies. Because people often drove too fast around her home, she let around 30 chickens, ducks and geese loose to wander around her street 20 years ago. "It works well, the animals don't get hit", neighbor Wilhelm van de Vooren said to the broadcaster. "You see that car traffic takes the animals into account."

He lives on the other side of the street, just outside the built-up area. There a speed limit of 60 kilometers applies. He found that motorists often ignore this speed limit, and therefore plans to extend neighbor Gerry's idea to his side of the street. He already designed a road sign and is waiting for the municipality to provide it before he sets the animals loose. "They are still driving too fast, and then you get weird situations. The animals stand first. It is wise to let road users know that animals are walking there."

When the animals will be set loose in Overberg, is not yet clear. The municipality has yet to respond to Wilhelm's request, according to the broadcaster.