Asheville – Jennifer Pharr Davis is making headway in lobbying for wildlife crossings to help prevent what recently happened to her on Interstate 26 — a large black bear darting in front of her car and crashing into it when she drove at full speed and then hitting two other vehicles.
The crash happened after dark on Oct. 26 as she drove her Toyota Prius about 60 mph from her native Hendersonville back to Asheville where she lives. She drove beneath the Blue Ridge Parkway overpass, near N.C. 191 and The Outlets shopping mall.
A large black bear that several witnesses estimate to weigh 400 pounds suddenly came at Davis’ car in the left lane of two northbound lanes. “He jumped off the median. He tried to clear my car. I suddenly see this bear ‘Supermaning’ (soaring sideways) in front of my windshield!,” she said. “He likely panicked, and was terrified. He tried to clear my car.”
He leaped short, and struck the Prius. He smashed into its front right portion, destroying its entire front bumper and “totaling” the compact hybrid electric-gasoline car. The bear survived that impact.
He ricocheted twice, Davis found out a month later. “He ‘pin-balled’ into the righthand lane. A truck hit that bear. He pin-balled back to the left lane I was in, and was hit by a third car.” The mortally wounded animal was put to sleep.
Davis said that she did not have time to swerve and avoid the bear. She braked and slowed from 60 to 20 mph. “Thankfully, I didn’t swerve” and spin out of control.
“The were loud noises from the big impact, and airbags going off. The kids were yelling and crying in back. Davis and her daughter, age nine, and six-year-old son all were uninjured. But her children were spooked by feeling and hearing the crash, a half-week before Halloween.
She managed to pull the car over to the highway’s shoulder, as “my car (engine) was dying.” She called 911. They dispatched Highway Patrol, and arranged for a tow truck which arrived in 15 minutes.
7 Bear-Car Crashes in a Week
The tow truck driver told Davis that there were four other crashes of black bears and vehicles in a week’s time on that stretch of I-26, she said. That makes for at least seven bear-vehicle crashes in a week.
This indicates the area is a rather active wildlife corridor. Black bears were extra active back in October. They tend to roam more when it is warmer. They load up on food in each fall, ahead of hibernating in winter. They expand their food search territory when they sense a shortage of acorns and other food, or when their habitats get developed and they have to go elsewhere.
“Large urban wildlife and human populations are both growing here,” Davis noted.
DOT Reconsidering Paths
The very next day after the crash, Davis launched a petition drive. Petitioners gathered 4,500 signatures. Most (3,100) were in the first two and a half weeks — by mid-November. She titled the petition Safe Wildlife Passageway for I-26 Asheville.
She presented it to the N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT). NCDOT in mid-November pledged to further study I-26 traffic. The state plans to reevaluate crash data specifically for the I-26 stretch between the French Broad River and Blue Ridge Parkway, then decide if any adjustments are needed and which ones to implement.
“They’re officially considering wildlife passageway modifications on I-26,” Davis pointed out. “This month, they’ll send a team to check on that stretch” where her crash occurred.
“They’ve been extremely receptive and responsive,” she said. “I’m extremely grateful to their response. Chuck McGrady has been very helpful. He brought the matter to the state DOT Commission” that he serves on. Flat Rock resident McGrady is a recent state representative. He was once Sierra Club national president.
Friend of Wildlife
Davis, 39, is a longtime advocate for outdoor fitness and wildlife. She owns and operates the local Blue Ridge Hiking Co. She was the National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, after in 2011 she hiked the entire 2,185-mile Appalachian Trail faster (in 46 days, averaging 47 miles) than anyone ever did before. The slender six-footer hiked over 14,000 total miles on six continents. She is a distance runner, avid backpacker, nature author and motivational speaker.
Davis helped create the 33-mile Appalachian High Route last year. She serves on the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition.
“My passion is really getting people outdoors, protecting public lands and wildlife,” she further told the Tribune. “I want us to protect wildlife, plant species, and humans.” She added that “in hiking in other places of the world, I see how they’re ahead of us” in installing wildlife crossings.
Level Paths, Fencing
Her purpose with the petition drive is to reduce crashes to protect both human and animal lives. She said that DOT should figure the ”lowest cost and most reasonable way to prevent accidents like this happening in the future.”
Specifically, she wants the state to install such safety features as flat wildlife passage beneath I-26’s traffic along bridges or along overpasses and fencing to direct wildlife to natural and human-made passages. Level paths are far superior to current sloped gravel, on which deer and other hoofed animals tend to slip in trying to gain footing, wildlife experts note.
“Culverts underneath the road are a great solution,” Davis said. “The solution depends on what wildlife live in the area, and what wildlife you’re trying to get them across. I’m not advocating one solution over another. I’m not the expert.”
The more flat passageways that exist beneath I-26 the more likely a bear or other large animal is to walk along them instead of dashing across the highway.
As an example, Interstate 40 west of here has flat wildlife paths beneath five renovated bridges near Pigeon River Gorge and on both sides of some streams. It also has wildlife fencing.
Traffic Jams
NCDOT officials decided against adding similar wildlife passages when planning the 22-mile I-26 widening. They pointed to existing culverts, bridges and other I-26 crossings.
Yet a counter argument is that sloped culverts are too slippery and can drive away wildlife, and that a level path is far safer and more likely to be used. Wildlife experts note that animals instinctively seek a path of least resistance across the level highway, instead of dealing with severely-sloped paths. They are known to travel along mostly flat and slightly tilted banks along rivers and creeks.
The I-26 widening began in 2019 and is slated to take about another year to finish. However, the pre-2019 decision was based on vehicle-wildlife crash data over a decade old — from a DOT study in 2009 to 2012.
Some conservationists estimate that more bears roam the area now compared to a decade ago. They call for prompt action before finishing I-26 widening.
Also, traffic on I-26 frequently jams up amidst the widening project. That means that there are more vehicles than usual on the highway at a given time, and a greater chance of a vehicle-animal collision.
If you see a bear at or beneath your home, call local authorities and also the Wildlife Commission helpline at 1-866-318-2401.