A fatal vehicle collision with a moose in Welsford on Sunday night has caused the RCMP and Department of Transportation to defend wildlife fencing in the area. (CBC)

The RCMP and the Department of Transportation are assuring people that the wildlife fencing along Highway 7 in southern New Brunswick is still effective despite a fatal vehicle collision on the weekend.

A 66-year-old Fredericton man was killed when his car hit a moose at about 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, just outside a section of the highway that is lined by wildlife fencing.

Grand Bay-Westfield RCMP Sgt. Robert Landry said the recent tragedy was 500 meters beyond the fence.

"We haven't had a fatality on our highway in many years. And the fencing has reduced the amount of accidents, be it injury or property damage accidents, along that stretch where the fencing has been installed," Landry said.

"It certainly has been a great safety feature for travellers in the area."

The Department of Transportation has installed 324 kilometres of wildlife fencing in areas that were deemed hot spots for vehicle collisions with wildlife.

Andrew Holland, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation, said the provincial government reviews collision reports and speaks with forest rangers and wildlife biologists as it determines where to place the fences.

Holland said driveways or entrances to the highway make fencing impossible in some areas

There are more than 300 vehicles crashes with moose every year in New Brunswick.

According to the Transportation Department, 85 per cent of the accidents occur between May and October, as the animals leave the forests to get away from pests and the heat and to eat roadside vegetation.

The department fences areas that have had more than 15 collisions involving a moose over a five-year period.