Road accidents involving animals are increasingly common on Spanish roads. In 2022, there were 35,661 accidents involving animals, that is, an average of 97 per day. Of them, 505 involved victims, in which 2 people died, 35 were hospitalized injured and 637 were non-hospitalized injured with varying degrees of severity. The figures do not include accidents that occurred in Catalonia and the Basque Country.
These data appear in a report prepared by the National Road Safety Observatory and released this Tuesday by the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), which includes all road accidents with victims in which animals were present in 2022. The study also includes all accidents in which an animal was involved and that resulted in human casualties or material damage.
The DGT highlights that the number of accidents with material damage to vehicles caused by an animal has increased since 2013, doubling if the years 2013 and 2022 are compared. On the other hand, the number of deaths, hospitalized injuries and minor injuries has gone down. progressively reducing.
The report published by Tráfico is the most complete document that has been produced to date, as it provides in-depth knowledge of road accidents involving animals by autonomous communities, provinces, type of animal, temporality, type of accident, type of environment. of displacement, as well as their location.
The exhaustive report allows us to draw the guidelines to make a detailed x-ray of accidents involving animals, in relation to various parameters that we will see below.
The DGT tells drivers that if they are going to drive through an area where it is common to encounter animals, they should take a series of precautions. First of all, it is recommended to respect the established speed, which is usually a lower specific speed for a specific section. Likewise, it urges motorists to be very aware of the ditches and medians, which is where the animals usually appear.
Finally, in the event of an imminent impact, it is recommended not to swerve and brake hard, but lifting your foot off the brake at the last moment. In this way, we will prevent the front of the vehicle from tilting downwards and making it easier for the animal, after hitting the front of the vehicle, to jump towards the windshield of the car.
In addition, road administrations are taking measures to help reduce accidents due to accidents with animals. One of the measures consists of using resins and other compounds that attract or repel the movements of animals in order to channel them through enabled passages or prevent invasion of the road.
Another is mowing, cleaning and clearing ditches, berms and medians to increase the driver’s field of vision and avoid the presence in these areas of small animals that may attract their larger predators.
Finally, the DGT reports on the installation of physical or ‘virtual’ fences (through lights, sounds or ultrasound) that prevent the animal from accessing the road, scare whistles installed in vehicles and the reinforcement of vertical signaling P- 24 (free-range animal crossing) with flashing red lights.
