Hitting a wild animal or someone’s beloved pet with your car can be a highly traumatic event, especially for animal lovers.
And, depending on what animal you hit, if you fail to report such an incident to the police you could be breaking the law.
You can report any dead or injured wild or domestic animal lying in the road to your local Council but there are certain animals you must report to the police.
Whether or not an animal is killed, you are legally obliged to report a dead or injured animal to the police if your car hits any of the following 1998 Road Traffic Act animals:
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Yes, after hitting a dog with a car the law UK stipulates that you must report the incident to the police, either online or by calling 101.
Once you have reported the incident to the police, your sole legal obligation under the 1998 Road Traffic Act has been fulfilled.
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So, is a cat knock and run illegal? Sadly not, no, but there are many who have tirelessly campaigned (albeit unsuccessfully, to date) for this to become a UK law under the ‘Cats Bill’, so this could change in the future.
However, if you do run over cat, whilst you’re not legally obliged to report this under the 1998 Road Traffic Act, trying to get the cat medical help or locate the owner would be the morally correct, respectful and kindest thing to do.
If you’ve ran over cat or dog, you should of course report a dog incident to the police but do not have to report an incident involving a cat to the police.
However, if you run over a dog or cat and you’d like to be a good samaritan by voluntarily do as much as possible to help the animal and it’s potential owner you should:
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Whilst the Highway Code doesn’t specifically mention ‘sheep’, sheep do of course fall under the umbrella of ‘animals’, and the Code simply states that you should:
‘Slow down and be ready to stop if you see animals in the road ahead. Animals are easily frightened by noise and vehicles passing too close to them. Stop if signalled to do so by the person in charge.’
If you accidentally injure a sheep and their owner isn’t present, you must report this to the Police.
According to deercollisions.co.uk, approximately 42,000 to 74,000 deer are involved in vehicle collisions every year in the UK.
An accident involving a deer hit by car can not only be fatal for the deer, but can equally be fatal for drivers resulting in several human fatalities and 450 driver injuries a year.
For these reasons when you see a deer warning sign, you must be extra vigilant, especially during the spring and autumn rutting seasons when deer accidents are more frequent (between May and June, and October and November), and also be extra careful after sunrise or from dusk until around midnight.
In accordance with advice from The British Deer Society, if you hit a deer we recommend that you should:
If you hit and injure any type of wild animal on the roads such as a badger or fox, you should call the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999 or a local wildlife rehabilitator . Try Google searching ‘wildlife rehabilitator near me’ or ‘wildlife rescue near me’.
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If you have comprehensive car insurance, most policies should cover you, any passengers and your vehicle, for injury or damages sustained following a collision with a deer while driving your car.
If you need to make a claim, make sure you provide your insurer with as much evidence as possible including:
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Although there are always circumstances where hitting an animal while driving is simply unavoidable, there are preventative measures you can take such as:
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