About once a month, a deer frolicking across Interstate 280 in
the rolling hills of the Peninsula never makes it to the other
side. Instead, it ends up as road kill, usually causing
extensive damage to the vehicle and occasional injury to the
driver. Sometimes the car misses the deer by swerving, but
crashes into another car or the guardrail. Researchers from
Caltrans, the state Department of Fish and Game and UC Davis are
spending $300,000 to learn how deer successfully scamper - or
not - across I-280, one of the least animal-friendly stretches
of freeway in the Bay Area. Eventually, the data could be used
to show where wildlife tunnels should be built under the freeway
or where new deer-proof fencing should be erected to keep the
animals out of danger. Similar studies have been conducted on
other Bay Area freeways, but experts say it is too soon to tell
if the deer-safety measures have worked. "We are always looking
for ways to improve public safety and the safety of wildlife,"
said Bob Haus, a Caltrans spo