Be More Aware Of Animals On The Road

Every year millions of animals both small and big are killed on Britain's roads all over the country. From large cities to tiny country roads, creatures are increasingly under threat from the ever expanding amount of traffic, with thousands more cars appearing on the roads every single year.

Depending on the time of year different wild animals are more at risk, from frogs and toads crossing country roads and lanes to get between different bodies of water to hedgehogs foraging for their last morsels of food before they go into hibernation in the winter months. However, these instances are not contained to darkening evenings in the autumn and winter but go on throughout the year all over the country.

Other wild animals such as birds, rabbits, foxes, badgers, squirrels and even larger species such as deer are becoming more common victims as larger roads continue to expand and break up what once was large areas of natural habitat for these once very elusive woodland creatures. And only last year, several horses actually escaped from a field bordering the busy A14 in Suffolk causing a fatal collision for both the animals and the unexpecting motorist that sadly ran into them.

It is not just our country's more wild species though that are at risk on the roads as every year, hundreds of our beloved household pets also are sadly hit by passing cars causing utter devastation to their loving families. Both cats and dogs are often at risk in towns and cities and even those that live in homes in the British countryside. The really sad truth however, remains that not only do motorists hit (and often kill pets) but it is not uncommon for them not to stop at the scene of the accident as they choose instead to simply drive away.

By law in the United Kingdom, if a motorist runs over a dog (even if the animal is not killed in the collision) they should stop and report the accident to the local police within 24 hours of the collision occurring, and although this rule does not apply to other domestic animals such as cats, it is only human decency to pay them and their families the same respect. With the nights drawing in as the autumn months begin, we are urging motorists (not just in the UK but all over the world) to be more aware of animals that could be on the roads.