The BestCarHire.com Guide - What To Do If You Knock Down an Animal

God forbid it should happen, but how would you react if you ran over an animal?
Would you just keep driving, would you claim your road-kill trophy or would you try to resuscitate it?

In the UK, a dog (as well as a goat, horse, cattle, ass, mule, sheep and pig) does come within the remit of the Road Traffic Act and is a reportable accident so you are required by law to report it to the police.

The UK Highway Code Rule 286 says:

If you are involved in a collision which causes damage or injury to any other person, vehicle, animal or property, you MUST

stop
give your own and the vehicle owner’s name and address, and the registration number of the vehicle, to anyone having reasonable grounds for requiring them
if you do not give your name and address at the time of the collision, report it to the police as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any case within 24 hours.

For those other creatures, how you react is up to yourself. Lately in the UK there has been an increase in the number of road traffic accidents involving the expanding deer population. This type of accident can cause considerable damage to your vehicle, as well as the poor deer.
From the deer's perspective you have a moral duty to try and save the animal if possible, by contacting the police or a vet. You will need to get the police involved anyway if you are submitting a car insurance claim.

In the Scottish Highlands, Kate Macpherson has another view on the subject. She collects dead badgers, foxes and stoats from the sides of roads and, using her taxidermy skills, incorporates their heads into striking finished products.

The 46-year-old has faced criticism from animal rights campaigners because of her decision to leave the animals' faces on the sporrans.

But the mother-of-three has defended her one-woman business. "If I didn't pick up these animals they would be rotting in a ditch," she said. "I'm creating something useful from them rather than allowing their beauty to be wasted.


About the Author
Malcolm McNeill is CEO of Best Car Hire offering clients the ability to search and rent a vehicle of their choice - anytime and anywhere. Many of our clients visiting Scotland for the first time ask for people carrier hire at Glasgow Airport or people carrier hire at Edinburgh Airport to enjoy a comfortable view of the Scottish countryside.

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