The real cost of wildlife collisions, and how to avoid them

The NRMA and NRMA Insurance have teamed up to release the Wildlife Road Safety Report which reveals the frequency of wildlife-related road accidents.

Every time we use the road it’s essential to drive safely and be vigilant of the risks of colliding with wildlife. Australia is a vast country with its fair share of big, wild animals, including sheep, wombats, cattle, kangaroos, wallabies and even deer. Wildlife deaths can further attract scavengers such as foxes and hawks, creating additional risks to drivers and our unique fauna.

It’s not just the animal’s lives that are at risk too, as a collision can result in extensive damage to your vehicle and cause a serious or fatal accident.

Sometimes drivers who swerve to avoid an animal may end up losing control and running off the road, and/or rolling their vehicle. This outcome is likely in the case of popular 4WD vehicles which tend to have a higher centre of gravity.

The report showed there were more than 900 collisions with animals that caused injuries, ranging from minor through to fatal crashes, on New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory roads between 2015-2020. In alone 2020, there were 116 accidents reported due to animal collisions.

NRMA data analysis suggests the aggregate societal costs of road trauma are approximately $7 billion per year. The emotional costs arising from road trauma to individuals, families and communities remain unquantifiable.

NRMA Spokesperson Peter Khoury says, “What people might not know is that approximately 3% of crashes in regional areas are the result of impact collisions with wildlife.”

NRMA Insurance shared data that revealed the most notorious Local Government Areas (LGAs) for animal collisions in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, with Dubbo (689), Canberra (568) and Goulburn (479) rounding out the top three LGAs based on claims numbers.

David Wilkes, Executive Manager Motor Assessing at NRMA Insurance explained:

“Our claims data shows that stretches of road and highways in regional areas pose a greater risk of animal collision compared with suburban streets, with impacts from animals typically causing damage to panels and bumpers, indicators and doors.”

So, what can we do about it?

While artificial intelligence could play a part in reducing collisions, and wildlife safety focused road updates, such as the Pacific Highway, do successfully reduce motor accidents, these cost money and take time. Educating and changing driver behaviour is a much easier route.

“We know that driver behaviour is the single biggest contributor to motor vehicle accidents, so more focus needs to be placed on driver education around how to minimise the risk of accidents involving wildlife, particularly when driving on regional and rural roads,” says Peter.

• Wildlife tends to be most active at dawn and dusk, so drivers may benefit from being more alert at these periods;
• Wildlife may tend to travel together and behave in a ‘herd-like’ manner.  If you see one, there are likely to be many;
• There is strong seasonality associated with wildlife collisions with a heavy skew towards winter, which might be attributable to shorter daylight hours, and;
• More prevalent signage, and active signage (similar to school zones) is needed during high-risk periods.

See this article for more information on preventing wildlife-related injury on the road.

To further support Australian biodiversity, the NRMA has partnered with the Wildlife Recovery Australia (WRA), a joint venture between Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital and the Odonata Foundation to create custom wildlife rescue kits to keep in your car so drivers can do more to help injured wildlife found on the roads.

The two-year partnership will also see the NRMA provide $500,000 in funding to improve facilities for animal welfare and develop biodiversity projects in locations near NRMA Holiday Parks.