Reduce Your Chances of Hitting an Animal on the Road

Over the years animal-related accidents have been on the rise in many areas of the United States. The automobile insurance company, State Farm, has reported that in 2008, an estimated 1.2 million accident claims were made for vehicles involving an animal. This is an increase of nearly 15 percent over the past 5 years. In Pennsylvania alone, 1 in 86 drivers can expect to experience some sort of collision with an animal over this next year.

Not only is it not kind to injure or fatally wound an animal on the road, it is also not kind to the environment if the accident backs up traffic, causes rubber necking, and increases both idle time and poor emissions among the commuting drivers. You might also need car repairs or a new car—not green. Such accidents can also cause injury or death to drivers and passengers in extreme cases. Since 1993 there have been 227 animal related human fatalities reported in the state of Texas, 123 in Wisconsin, and 112 in Pennsylvania.

Nobody likes to hit an animal on the road, but what can we do about these instances? Accidents happen, there is no doubt about that, and in most cases they are completely unpredictable. To start with, we can drive the speed limit, minimize nighttime driving, never drive when sleepy, keep our eyes on the road, and learn to think like an animal during an emergency situation.