Sharna Gates is lucky to be alive.
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The Cessnock mum who works in Maitland, recently had a brush with death on her drive home from work, an incident all motorists should heed.
Just on dusk, Sharna was nearing the end of Old Maitland Road, also known as 21 bends, an unsealed road linking Bishops Bridge with East Cessnock.
She had just hit the tar near Cessnock tip when a feral deer came barreling out of the bush, hitting her car causing her to spin out of control and activating the vehicle’s air bags.
While her two-year-old Mitsubishi Outlander was a write off, Sharna was left physically shaken but lucky enough to escape with only an injured finger.
Her story is being duplicated across the Hunter as the region’s wildlife desperately search for food and water as a result of the drought.
Panel beaters are reporting a surge in kangaroo, wombat and deer damage and NRMA Insurance said there has been a surge in claims.
Sharna wanted to tell her story to warn other motorists not to be complacent. “It just came out of nowhere and I’m so lucky I didn’t have my six-year-old son in the car,” she said. “I’m still a bit shaken and paranoid about driving at night. I haven’t been back on that road since and now I just stick to driving on the main roads.”
Hunter Valley Smash Repairs at Rutherford owner Hayden Gillon, said his roo and feral deer repairs have increased substantially over the past eight months, now making up about 60 per cent of his quotes.
“The damage is mainly to the front end and sides of vehicles and damage can be between $4000 and $6000,” he said. “Last week a bloke came in who was working up the valley. He hit one roo on the way up damaging one side of his vehicle and hit another on the way back damaging the other side,” Mr Gillon said.
He said probably one of the worst cases he had seen though was about six months ago when one of his suppliers was driving his Mitsubishi Triton along John Renshaw Drive and hit a feral deer. The car was a write off.
“Commuters using Broke Road (Pokolbin) and the Hunter Expressway seem to be at risk with the roos, while the Weston, Kurri and Cessnock areas have a deer problem as well,” Mr Gillon said. “Wombats are also out and about up the valley at the moment. They’re like hitting a rock and can do substantial damage to the bottom of any vehicle.”
A spokesperson for the Office of Environment and Heritage said kangaroo numbers fluctuate with climatic conditions including drought.
“Kangaroos can be drawn to roadside verges for ‘green pick’ especially as conditions dry out,” the spokesperson said. “We encourage motorists to drive carefully at all times and be aware of wildlife, including kangaroos, on our roads, especially at dawn and dusk.”
An NRMA Insurance spokesperson told Fairfax Media that in 2017, more than 12,000 claims for animal collisions were received in NSW, a 10% increase from 2016. A combination of dry conditions and cooler weather increases the risk of vehicles and animals colliding which typically peaks during July and August.
The worst spots for animal collisions in the Hunter region were Muswellbrook, Singleton, Pokolbin, Scone, Denman and Cessnock. Animal crashes occur most frequently around dawn and dusk, when animals, especially kangaroos, become more active and are in search of food and water.
“Wildlife is unpredictable and we encourage drivers to slow down at night especially in rural areas, where animal collisions frequently occur. If a driver does see an animal, they should brake, but not swerve to avoid the animal,” the spokesperson said.
