When Roadkill Is A Victim Of Your New Haven Auto Accident

It’s hard to believe, but it is estimated that a staggering number of animals are killed each year in motor vehicle accidents.  The number that most experts work from is between 1 and 2 million animals each year.  These animals, which once killed are labeled as roadkill, are often hit and killed due to the increasingly populated roads and streets we all drive on.

When a New Haven auto accident happens and it involves an animal it can be extremely serious and cause death to the animal and often quite serious injuries to the driver and passenger of the motor vehicle.  These accidents are often sudden and happen without warning as animals often have a tendency to dart out into traffic and are not generally aware of their surroundings if a vehicle is approaching.

Depending on the size of the animal the damage to your vehicle can be significant and the injuries can be quite severe.  Recently in the state of Connecticut there have been large animal sightings like moose and black bears, an encounter with an animal of that size could lead to more damage to your vehicle and significant injuries to you more then an injury to the animal.  However, if the animal is on the smaller size it can cause significant issues with your vehicle getting out of control and getting into an accident that occurs after the original contact with the animal.

If you end up hitting an animal and the animal dies, but you are and your passengers are not injured you should take care in removing the animal from the road so other vehicles do not have the animal in their way to become a hazard for them.  While we wouldn’t recommend you getting out on a busy street and cleaning up roadkill there are options that you have in making sure that the situation is taken care of so it doesn’t present a problem for drivers who will travel on that road later in the day.

Option #1: Call a professional.  Most cities and towns designate different departments so you will want to pull over to the side of the road, turn your hazard lights on and spend a few minutes trying to determine which department your town or city has determined is responsible for removing this type of situation from the road.  If you are not able to determine this, you may want to call the non-emergency line for the police department so they can either point you in the right direction or contact the appropriate authorities to take care of the situation.

Option #2: Try to remove the animal yourself.  This is not the preferred option.  If you choose this one you should do it with extreme caution as interacting with wild and dead animals presents health risks to humans that might not be known at the time you hit the animal.  You should only perform this method if you have the appropriate tools to remove the animal from the road and if you feel confident that the volume of traffic is such that you will have substantial amounts of time to get into the road and take care of the animal before any further traffic is approaching.

While we have listed two options above, our recommended option when dealing with roadkill that is the result of a New Haven auto accident is to talk with a professional and allow them to handle the situation.  Roadkill presents all types of risks to you when removing it yourself so it is best to let someone who is trained handle this removal so you don’t have to worry about any of the health or injury issues.

If you find that you’ve been injured as the result of an accident with roadkill you may need to speak with an attorney who can work with you to learn about your situation and help protect your long-term interests.  Contact our office and one of our experienced attorneys will speak with you.