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Animal accident investigations for schools

Summary

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Free-roaming ponies, pigs, cattle, and sheep are central to the New Forest National Park’s habitats and the long-standing tradition of commoning, but they are vulnerable to road traffic. In 2016, 146 animal-related accidents were recorded on New Forest roads and 63 animals were killed. A classroom “animal accidents” spinner or dice game introduces key facts, including that most deaths happen around dawn and dusk, the police should be called if an accident is witnessed, and forest road speed limits are typically 40 mph. Pupils are encouraged to explore why injuries are less common than deaths and why darker winter conditions can increase risk. The resource also prompts evaluation of accident-reduction measures such as hotline cards, temporary and permanent warning signs, cattle grids, reflective collars, and poster campaigns, and invites pupils to design their own safety solutions and persuasive road-safety posters.
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Animal Accident Investigations

Free roaming ponies, pigs, cattle and sheep are one of the iconic features of the New Forest National Park. They are also essential to managing habitats that have been established for hundreds of years and to sustaining the culture of “commoning”- a way of life established since the first kings of England.

Here are a selection of activities to help your pupils consider the impact of drivers on New Forest livestock, and how the issues can be managed.

To find out more about the practice of commoning and who owns the ponies visit:

http://www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/info/20089/rich_cultural_heritage/48/commoning or http://www.verderers.org.uk/education.html

  • Animal Accidents spinner or dice game- multiple choice activity to introduce students to facts and figures about this issue
  • Managing Animal Accidents- images of methods used by the Verderers and Highways Agency to try and reduce accidents, do pupils think these will work?
  • Animal Accident posters- examples of pupils’ work, competition winners

63 animals died on New Forest Roads in 2016
146 accidents were recorded in total

Animal accidents spinner

Print this table and attach it to a spinner or dice to randomly select questions

Give pupils tme to give reasons for their answers or if they “don’t know”* ask them to identify questions that would help them decide. *They don’t drive cars yet after all!

Follow up with the correct answers and the Managing animal accidents images.

At which time do most animal deaths occur?

7-8am    10-11am
5-6pm    10-11pm

Who should you call if you witness an accident involving an animal?

Police    Fire service
Vet    Verderers

How many animals were injured on Forest roads last year?

21    86
152    253

What is the reward for reporting a hit and run which results in an animal death?

£100    £500
£1000    £5000

Which age group kills the most animals?

18-24    25-35
35-50    50+

What is the speed limit on open Forest roads?

30mph    40mph
50mph    70mph

Which is the worst month for animal deaths?

February    June
September    December

How many stock animals were killed on Forest roads last year?

24    73
102    345

Animal accidents spinner- answers in red

At which time do most animal deaths occur?

7-8am    10-11am
5-6pm    10-11pm

Most accidents happen around dawn and dusk where there are more vehicles on the road travelling to and from work

Who should you call if you witness an accident involving an animal?

Police    Fire service
Vet    Verderers

The police will then call out the necessary people

How many animals were injured on Forest roads last year?

35    86
152    253

The relatively small number of injuries is because most animals actually die after a collision with a vehicle on the Forest roads

What is the reward for reporting a hit and run which results in an animal death?

£100    £500
£1000    £5000

Which age group kills the most animals?

18-24    25-35
35-50    50+

What is the speed limit on open Forest roads?

30mph    40mph
50mph    70mph

Which is the worst month for animal deaths?

February    June
September    December

Darker mornings and evenings mean tricky driving conditions during the rush hours

How many stock animals were killed on Forest roads last year?

24    63
102    345

Managing animal accidents

  • Share these images and key questions with your pupils
  • Ask them if they think they will be effective in reducing animal accidents
  • Ask them to score how effective they would be on a scale of 1-5 and display the results next to the images
  • After weighing the pros and cons of these examples, can they design their own solutions (nb- fencing all forest roads is in contradiction to laws that are over 900 years old, currently only 3 ‘a’ roads are fenced where drivers can drive at 60 mph)
  • Can pupils design their own posters to persuade motorists to drive safely? Some example of pupil’s work are included.

Key questions

WHO does this method target?

WHERE would you see it?

Do you think it is expensive? Who pays?

WHEN would this help? Would it help all year round? Day/ night?

Do motorists have a CHOICE about whether to change their behaviour?

Hotline Cards￾To keep in your glove box or wallet.

Temporary signs following accidents
Highways Agency warning signs

Cattle grids
Cattle grids

Poster campaign
Poster campaign
Road signs with changing messages

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