Drive Safely: Give Wildlife a “Brake”

Having seen three animals killed in road traffic accidents on the same local road in a month, I thought the following article could be of some benefit.

It is important to note that no matter how careful a driver you are, sometimes totally unavoidable situations may happen: animals are known to run out in between moving vehicles causing them to impact with the rear wheels, not a great deal even a careful driver could do in such an incident. It is also wrong to swerve or in some situations slam on the brakes to avoid a head on collision with a small animal. (i.e. on motorways.) When this happens it often results in the problem escalating with some injuring themselves or other pedestrians instead.

“One of the big problems in causing serious crashes is people swerving,” “Drive slower. If you see an animal on the road, try and keep the vehicle straight and brake. “It’s a terrible thing but it’s better to hit that animal than try to swerve to miss it. The likelihood that the people will suffer serious injuries goes down if you don’t swerve.”

However, with all this in mind I notice that the road in question has a slow speed limit with wide open paths, it also has no bushes close by or parked vehicles on either side of the road. This gives drivers a good view into the distance of the road and path ahead. Unfortunately it seems far too many drivers are braking the speed limit and failing to scan the path ways on approach.

The last incident has left large thick black skid marks in the road. This indicates that the driver did attempt to brake, yet failing to obey the areas slow speed limit and forward planning for what “might happen” seem highly likely to be the reason for another animals fatality. Failure in these areas of driving seem to be far too frequently reoccurring in this area.

Hopefully the attached article may encourage some to consider their own driving styles and have a think about the benefits of early observations and acting upon what is seen.

Slow down! Plus six more ways to lower your risk of hitting an animal (and what to do if a collision occurs)