A coat of red paint is saving crossing animals

Forest officials in India have painted stretches of a busy highway red in an effort to slow drivers and cut down on wildlife deaths along the route. The idea leans on color psychology, the notion that a red road surface reads as a warning and prompts people to ease off the accelerator. Animals crossing the highway had been dying in collisions, and the painted sections give drivers a visual cue to slow before an animal steps into the road. It is a low-tech fix for a problem that usually invites expensive engineering, and it works without any sign for a driver to ignore. Early on, the red stretches appear to be doing their job. The animals, for their part, did not request the color scheme and remain unaware that a coat of paint is now looking out for them.