insurer
Every two minutes a car hits a wild animal
Dead deer on the side of the road after a collision with a vehicle. photo
© Patrick Pleul/dpa
In the darker seasons, the risk of an accident involving wildlife increases again. Drivers must be particularly careful not to drive into wild animals.
According to the figures for 2022 published on Friday, the risk of an accident involving wildlife is unevenly distributed throughout the year: The risk is therefore particularly high in April and May and between October and December. “Drivers should drive particularly carefully, especially in the coming weeks,” warned Asmussen.
Accidents with wildlife are particularly common in the darker seasons, “when the sun sets an hour earlier due to the time change at the end of October,” as the German Forest Protection Association puts it. “For forest animals, it doesn’t matter what time it is. They orientate themselves on daylight and are particularly active at dusk – i.e. during peak hours of rush hour traffic.”
According to the German Hunting Association, the higher number of wildlife accidents in April and May is due to the fact that deer are very active in search of the first buds and grasses – “even across roads”. Young roebucks that have reached sexual maturity are also driven away and have to find their own territory.
Announcement from the General Association of Insurers