The risk of a wildlife accident is particularly high in April, May and late autumn. After winter, the animals look for food and in autumn they look for winter quarters. Every day, more than 700 accidents involving wildlife happen on German roads, even though traffic signs at well-known dangerous spots warn against wildlife crossings.
Most wildlife accidents happen at dawn and dusk, when animals are particularly active. Wild animals like to cross the road at the edge of meadows, fields and forests. They like to leave their cover and travel long distances in search of food.
According to current statistics from the German Hunting Association (DJV), there were almost 228,500 accidents involving wildlife in the past hunting year. In 2548 accidents, people were injured after an animal was on the road. According to the insurer HUK-Coburg, there are costs of over 2000 euros per wildlife accident.
Highest risk of accidents with an animal
- In the mornings and the evenings
- In July / August for the rut of the deer
- In the transition area field or forest
Drivers should not rely solely on the warning traffic signs. The ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg generally advises increased caution when driving along the edges of forests and fields or on newly created country roads.
The number rose by more than six percent compared to the previous year. In about 80 percent of cases, a collision occurs with a deer, every tenth animal is a wild boar.
Prevent wildlife accidents
- Drive carefully
- Keep an eye on the roadside and be ready to brake
- Immediately dim and honk
- Behind an animal there can still be a pack
As soon as a deer appears at the side of the road, you have to slow down immediately and drive past as slowly as possible. Honking is also useful to drive the animal away. It is also important to dim down immediately, because an animal usually remains motionless in the light of the headlights. Since a wild animal rarely comes alone, drivers should initially drive slowly.
If the collision cannot be avoided: Brake sharply in a collision. Hold the steering wheel and keep the driving line.
Even if it hurts, it’s better to hold onto the animal A collision with another car or a tree is usually more severe than a collision with an animal.
The faster a vehicle is traveling, the longer the stopping distance. At a speed of 80, a driver can still bring his vehicle to a standstill in time if a wild animal suddenly jumps on the road 60 meters away. At 100 km/h this is no longer possible. The driver hit the animal with a residual speed of more than 61 kilometers per hour.
Behavior after a wildlife accident
- Turn on the hazard lights
- Put on safety vest
- Secure the scene of the accident with a warning triangle
- call police (110)
What should I report when calling the police? First of all, it is important to keep calm and describe the accident clearly. State your name, the location of the accident (road / highway section) and what happened. Are there any injuries and if so, what kind of injury? Be sure to stay on the line and await instructions. The police also informed the responsible forester / hunting tenant. The latter then issues a game certificate, which, like the photos of the scene of the accident, the animal and the vehicle, helps with claims processing. The injured or dead animal should do not touch due to possible risk of rabies. Before doing repairs on your own car, you should talk to your insurance company. Stay as far away from the injured animal as possiblebecause the closer you get to the injured animal, the greater the risk stressful situation.
Horses on the road
From time to time it happens that horses ride along the country roads.
It is best to drive with foresight. If you see a horse near the road, you should slow down significantly and avoid the horse and rider as far as possible as soon as oncoming traffic allows. So you don’t have to worry about making the horses shy.
Process with the insurance
The insurance companies paid their customers 583 million euros for collisions with deer, wild boar and other wild animals.
Every wildlife accident must be reported, even if you hit the animal and the injured animal then fled into the forest. You need a report from the police so that they can confirm the wildlife accident for the insurance company.
The officials inform the lessee, record the accident and issue a certificate of the wildlife accident. An injured animal may only be killed by an authorized and competent person (e.g. the person authorized to hunt). A veterinary treatment is usually ruled out.
Damage to your own vehicle caused by furry game – such as deer and wild boar – is covered by the comprehensive insurance. Some insurers have even extended their protection to all vertebrates. In the event of an accident, photos of the scene of the accident, the animal and the vehicle are helpful for quick claims processing.
As soon as the damage exceeds 1000 euros, you need an accident certificate from the police for your insurance. If you are at home, you should report the damage caused by wild animals to your insurance company immediately.
Partial casco insurance is responsible for damage caused by a collision or accidents involving animals of any kind, such as furred game or pheasants. Important for those insured with fully comprehensive insurance: Although this always includes partially comprehensive insurance, damage caused by game has no effect on the no-claims bonus for fully comprehensive insurance.
Accidents also occur without the vehicle directly colliding with a large wild animal if the driver is startled and the steering wheel snaps. There are also drivers who deliberately avoid a larger animal in order to avoid greater damage. The partially comprehensive insurance pays in such a case. However, the driver must prove that the swerving was necessary as a rescue measure and prevented major game damage. According to current case law, the driver must have avoided a collision with a wild boar, deer or stag.
However, anyone who avoids small animals such as a hare, badger or maggot is not without insurance cover, provided they have fully comprehensive insurance. It usually takes over the game damage caused by such an evasive maneuver.
Glass breakage costs insurers 1.1 billion
As can be seen from the GDV’s current car partially comprehensive damage balance sheet, glass breakage is the most common partially comprehensive damage: Almost 2.2 million damages cost the insurer more than 1.1 billion euros. After glass breakage and accidents involving wildlife, third place was taken by marten bites, which were responsible for 216,000 damage and costs of 63.5 million euros.
The most common insurance cases
- Broken glass
- Wildlife accidents
- Marten bites
- Storm and hail damage
- Thefts (radios & navigation devices)