Photo credit: Chobist
I must confess to having bad vibes about being near birds and animals. I almost got attacked by a bull once, a squirrel once bit my finger rather nastily and if one more seagull poops on my head I may very well scream.
However, I can safely say that I have never had my vehicle damaged by any members of the animal kingdom. Well, my neighbour’s cat once scratched my paintwork but we can forgive him that as he is kind of cute.
It seems that other people aren’t so lucky though. Take the case of the lady who was driving along rather coolly in an open topped car when a daring squirrel dropped in. The driver was, frankly, startled and drove straight into a tree. The car suffered £5,500 worth of damage. The extent of the squirrel’s injuries is unknown.
Did Anything Ever Happen?
This is just one of the animal-related car insurance claims received by AA Insurance involving all creatures great and, well, small. Wasn’t that a weird programme by the way? I seem to remember watching hours of it with my Dad but I don’t remember anything ever happening.
Anyway, the AA say that they have received over 100 cases involving animals being hit in the last couple of months. In the month of November 30 of those claims involved deer, 3 had cheeky badgers in the mix and in 11 cases our canine friends played a part in the mayhem and carnage.
A spokesman said that deer are the “biggest culprit” and that as this is the rutting season we can expect to see a rise in the number of claims. These car unfriendly creatures get around in the early morning and late at night, and this is when a lot of people are commuting to and from work. At least I know of a good vet if you happen you hit one, and he never seems to be too busy either.
Not only the animals and vehicles end up damaged though. It seems that around 450 drivers and passengers end up hurt each year following accidents with deer.