02 August 2024
There is a large benefit for Australia’s motorists and native animals when it comes to diligent driving on roads that attract wildlife.
Australia is a vast country with its fair share of big, wild animals, including sheep, wombats, cattle, kangaroos, wallabies and even deer.
A vehicular collision with any of these larger species can spell serious injury and even death for not just wildlife, but motorists themselves.
Why is it dangerous to drive on roads with wildlife?
Colliding with an animal itself can sometimes cause vehicle, driver and/or occupant injury if the animal is large enough. However, often more dangerously, rollovers and impacts with trees can result from attempts made to evade the animal.
In heavily-treed areas, such as near regional roads, vegetation acts as a noise-break, meaning animals (even those familiar with crossing roads) may not hear your vehicle approaching until they’ve already breached the tree line.
Driving in the days after rainfall also increases a motorist’s chance of encountering wildlife. By nature, roads are designed to expedite water run-off, leading to an accumulation in roadside gullies which act as a water source for animals to drink.
Adding to the risk, a section of road where an animal has already been hit and killed will lead to scavenging animals – such as foxes and hawks – gathering around. If the road design and conditions already resulted in an animal fatality, then this means the risk of further collision is amplified by scavengers.
In the event you do have an incident involving an animal, a Wildlife Recovery Kit may assist you in saving the animal's life.
Call 000 if you or your passengers are injured in a collision with an animal.
