Maral harm: how animals affect road accident statistics in spring
Up to a quarter of traffic accidents in May were caused by animals entering the roadway, insurance companies estimated. Experts explain this by seasonal factors: during this period, moose, sika deer and marals calve, which makes the animals more mobile and migrate across the trails. At the same time, not all high-speed highways running along forests are equipped with fences that prevent the exit of wild animals, experts say. The problem could be solved by laying special tunnels for the crossing, environmentalists say. How to avoid such accidents is described in the Izvestia article.
Where accidents with animals happen
In May and June, the number of animal accidents on Russian roads increased significantly, insurance companies told Izvestia. According to the company "Consent", this is about 25% of all accidents during this period. In total, in 2025, this insurance company paid 122.4 million rubles for such incidents.
The most frequent type of animal accidents last year were hit—and-run, accounting for 84% of the total. Payments for such incidents amounted to more than 95.3 million. In 24% of cases, roe deer, moose, cows and birds are shot down.
The most devastating consequences are caused by collisions with moose, because its weight can be up to 720 kg. As a result of such accidents, cars are often beyond repair. For example, in June last year, the driver of a Volvo XC70 hit this animal — the damage was estimated at more than 1.5 million rubles.
Not all high-speed highways running along the forest have fences that prevent wild animals from entering the road, the Rosgosstrakh press service said.
"Over the past May holidays, the company received about 20 applications from customers with CTP and hard hat policies, whose cars were damaged either directly in a collision with moose, wild boars and roe deer, or as a result of an attempt to avoid hitting an animal," they added.
The largest casco refund for such an incident last May amounted to more than 3.1 million rubles — a motorist from the Moscow region collided with a moose on Haval Drago. Under CTP, the insurer reimbursed environmental authorities for animals killed in an accident.
According to Rosgosstrakh, wild animal incidents most often occur on the highways of the Kirov, Nizhny Novgorod, Kaluga, Pskov and Vologda regions.
But there is no pronounced regional pattern of collisions: cases have been recorded in various regions of the Russian Federation, said Olga Bakulina, head of the Absolut Insurance Customer Service Department. Among the regions where such cases occurred, she named Tatarstan, Pskov, Vladimir, Ryazan and Yaroslavl regions.
According to her, moose and roe deer run out onto the roadway most often in the spring and summer period.
Collisions with moose are the most dangerous and widespread in their habitats, for example, in Karelia, Leningrad or Moscow regions, said Dmitry Krenev, Deputy director of Ingosstrakh's Retail Business Loss Settlement Department.
"Accidents involving wild boars, roe deer and other ungulates are not uncommon, but collisions with them do not pose a critical danger to the lives of the driver and passengers," he said. — Nevertheless, such incidents always result in major damage to the vehicle.
Why do accidents with animals occur?
For hitting a motorist, he also receives a fine for harming nature, Dmitry Sokolov, deputy director of the Department of underwriting and product management at Consent, recalled. The amount depends on the size of the animal — for an elk it is up to 80 thousand rubles, a downed roe deer will cost 40 thousand, a capercaillie — 6 thousand, and a squirrel — 500 rubles.
The largest payment for CTP animals was for bison, Rosgosstrakh said. The incident occurred on the Ustye—Verkhneye Ramenye highway in the Vologda region. The animal died, and the amount of payment to the Department for the Protection, Control and Regulation of the use of wildlife in the Vologda region amounted to 400 thousand rubles.
"A wild animal shot down on the road is a victim, not a trophy," the company stressed. — If a hit-and-run does occur, turn on the emergency stop signs and call the traffic police. It is not recommended to move objects, much less leave the scene, as leaving the scene of an accident entails other sanctions."
However, the danger comes not only from a sudden encounter on the road, Dmitry Sokolov noted. Animals can also damage cars that are left motionless. Most often, these are dogs or livestock that scratch the body and break mirrors.
"But the crows have become the most unusual pest," he said. — There are cases when birds dropped stones on roofs and windows of parked cars.
The increase in the number of accidents in these months is associated with the breeding season in animals. Under the influence of instincts in the struggle for a female and against the background of hormonal surges, animals become less cautious, they become more active and less fearful, ecologist Artyom Akshintsev told Izvestia.
According to representatives of the Losiny Ostrov National Park, moose, spotted deer and marals calve in May and June. Artyom Akshintsev believes that it is possible to combat the problem of collisions with animals by fencing roads and laying special tunnels for animals.
— Above-ground and underground "green corridors" can connect habitats and help populations not to degenerate in their enclosed forest area. This will also protect motorists, as a collision, for example, with a moose can be fatal," he said.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to accurately assess the reasons for the increase in the number of accidents with animals in these months — it is necessary to take into account the increased traffic due to the beginning of the summer season and the sowing season, said Igor Shkradyuk, coordinator of the industrial greening program at the Wildlife Conservation Center. And then these data should be compared with information about animal behavior.
Wild animals are often active at dusk and at night, Sergei Demidov, Vice President of Renaissance Insurance, recalled. According to him, the braking distance should not exceed the distance illuminated by the headlights, especially if oncoming traffic is dense and you need to switch to low beam frequently.
— If you can't stop completely, then you need to go around the animal from behind, without blocking its path to the forest, as it can accelerate and run forward faster or stop in place, — said the expert.
It is also worth avoiding sudden maneuvers, Olga Bakulina added. Trying to sharply avoid an animal often leads to more serious consequences than a collision, such as skidding, driving into a ditch, or driving into the oncoming lane.
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