Bull Bars Save Lives In Australia

Recent research has shown that at least 5.5% of road crashes are caused by impact with an animal or swerving to avoid an animal on public roads. In just one year alone (2007) the NRMA Insurance Company in NSW had over 9000 claims that were caused by impact with an animal, at a total cost to the NSW community of over 70 Million dollars.

“Kangaroos will often look for food and water near busy roads or even in urban areas”. 

Reported in the Australian Automotive Accessories Association discussion paper the article also says 'The Australian landscape and our broad expanse of rural roads often expose road users to encounters with animals, with the majority of serious collisions occurring in regional, rural and outer urban areas.  The condition of many regional roads and our road design which includes verges and drainage ditches running alongside major roads increases the risk of animal strike, particularly in drought conditions.

Research focus on animal-related road crashes in Australia from the Rural and Remote Road Safety Study in North Queensland (for serious casualties resulting from direct impact with an animal or swerving to avoid an animal on public roads) found that animal collisions accounted for 5.5% of all eligible on-road serious casualties in the study.  Kangaroos and wallabies were the predominant species involved in these crashes (44.8%).  Night-time travel was found to be a significant risk factor when comparing animal-related crashes to other serious injury crashes in the study. Data matching to official Government records found underreporting of animal-related crashes to be an issue of concern.'
This information is published in the Australian Automotive Accessories Association (AAAA)  Position Paper
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