Do Australians have any trouble with animals jumping in front of vehicles like we do in US?

Question

In Illinois, we have deer almost year-round to contend with.

Answer 1

Gidday,
There a a few creatures that get in front of your car here is Aus.
Rabbits, Cats, Dogs, Foxes, Cows, Sheep, Horses, Reptiles, Wombats and the good old Kangaroo.

On some highways there will be warning sign like the one on my id picture. When I go to the farm to visit my relatives it very common to have Roo,s jump in front of the car, mostly at night because of the head lights.

In area's where we know they like to jump in front of the car, we turn the inside car light on so they can see us. Roo's like to jump between the front and rear lights. There have been a few deaths with Roo's hitting car here.

We even have the occasional large spider (huntsman spider) that likes to jump on your front window and scare the life out of you.

from down under

Answer 2

Kong and Dinkum are pretty much spot on with what they said.

In the urban areas it is mostly cats and dogs and sometimes possums - mostly at night or very early in the morning. Daytime you occasionally might hit a cockatoo or galahs that decide to fly RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU as you approach.

It is out in the outer edge suburbs and into the rural areas that you will get kangaroos and sometimes wonbats. A kangaroo can do a lot of damage to your car. (average about $1000 damage)

As Kong said - roo bars are NOT a good idea because it is dangerous to PEOPLE.

For the record - for Arizona Brit - cars are NOT required to have a roo bar.

Answer 3

Hitting roos is very common in rural districts, especially at night. Roos are mostly nocturnal. It can even happen on the outskirts of major towns. The worst situation is just after light rain when the run-off from paved roads makes grass on the road verges slightly greener than further away. This attracts roos.

I have run over a wallaby (small roo), which tore the exhaust system apart. I've killed a pheasant and once hit an emu which got up and ran away. If you see one emu, there will almost certainly be another not far away. They run across roads without looking. Bird brains.

Many country motorists fit roo bars and 100 watt accessory driving lights. This has led to a specialised type of Australian hot rod - the beaut and feral ute generally associated with Bachelor and Spinster Balls (B&S balls), Bundaberg Rum and dogs in the tray of the ute. Oh, and circle work.

http://www.beaututes.com/gallery/

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Pit/9026/country.html

Virtually all long distance truck drivers have very large roo bars on their trucks and don't even try to slow down for roos. If you have a road train (three trailers) or a B-double (two trailers) or just an ordinary 18 wheeler braking heavily can cause a jack-knife which can kill you and anyone else nearby, not to mention the roos.

I have driven across a two-lane bridge at 2am and narrowly missed three cattle standing on the bridge. Whew! A friend of mine rolled and wrecked his car and broke his back when he swerved to avoid a roo one night. Fortunately he recovered, only to die in a parachute accident a few years later. Don't swerve to avoid a roo at highway speed, you will roll your car. Hit the bastard square on. If you roll your car at such speeds you will be seriously injured. If you hit the thing square on, you might get out of it without injury.

Another school friend died when he struck a bullock on a fenced road. However wandering cattle are rare, except on minor roads posted "Unfenced Road, Beware of Stock" or "Cattle Crossing". if you hit a cow, bullock or bull, heaven help you. I have seen a Ford 1 ton (F-100) pickup flattened back to the windscreen after it hit a beast on the road between Cloncurry and Mt. Isa.

Crows (Australian ravens) generally have enough sense to get off the road and are quite casual about approaching cars. Other birds are more likely to fly right in front of your car. Toot the horn if you see them.

Answer 4

It isn't a huge issue here but it does happen out in the country sometimes. i was working on a film in kangaroo island (an island off of S.A) and none of the crew were allowed to drive cars, they all had to have huge 4wd's with massive bumper bars to stop from having accidents. We had 12 people hit kangaroos and 1 koala, if they didn't have the bigger cars with the bumper bars they could have died. It isn't necessary to have big cars in town but once you get out further into the country you need to be on the lookout for kangaroos. A man died just last week on his motorbike when he hit a roo 15 mins outside of the city, so it does happen. You just have to be mindful and it won't be an issue for you.

Answer 5

In the city's the most common things that jump out in front of you are Cats, Dogs and sadly to say people. But that's like all city's around the world.

In the country all the creatures mentioned above. As far as Roo Bars on cars, also called Bull Bars, most people would like to ban them. Espeslliy in the city where they are not needed.

If you are in a small car and get hit on the side of your car with a Roo Bar the chances of you living is very low. The same goes for perdestrians.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

It really depends where in Australia you live. When you get out of the city, kangaroos are pretty common.

I live North of Sydney and while I haven't hit all of these, here are some things I regularly swerve to miss:

Echidnas, Koalas, Goannas, Snakes, Foxes, Wombats, Birds as well as farms animals such as cows and horses.

Answer 8

yes but only in regional areas.

kangaroos are the main offenders, although we have to contend with emus, wild boars, even crocodiles

the roadsides out in regional areas are littered with dead kangaroos, the insurance companies absolutely hate them.. grin

the worst and most dangerous though are emus being a bird similar to an ostrich if you with them they side across the bonnet and into the windscreen, generally bird dies but not before it has damaged the occupants of the car.

Answer 9

Ummmm just setting the record straight "Arizona Brit" said that it is a requirement to have a "roo bar" on your car in australia. Wrong. That idiot has clearly never been here. We get the same kind of problems with road kill as other countries but unfortunately mostly it's australian native animals like kangeroos and wombats. We don't have "roo bars" on our cars. Some people choose to have bull bars. (thats right, just like in other countries) but most people who live in cities don't. Generally hitting a kangeroo head on won't kill you but if you hit a cow it might. I don't understand why people think australia is this strange place with strange laws. Its a nice place to live at least we have sunshine unlike some places. (UK)

Answer 10

Yes we do, We have kangaroos, that have a VERY VERY nasty, habit to do just that, specially at nightfall, then by VERY BAD LUCK during the night, most the encounters result in death on both parties,We get hit CAR ROLLS or animal through windscreen LAST POST< garanteed!!