Hit A Stray Sheep On A Main Road

[daffy-dill]

Hi Can anyone advise? If someone collides with a sheep which has escaped onto a main road who is responsible. The driver, the farmer or the landowner. This happened in England.
Thanks for your help.

[DTCwordfan]

Amazing that folk don't read, eddie. I said the same thing at 9.27 last night.

[Maydup]

You can leave it to the insurance company. They may or may not pursue the farmer for the costs, or the owner of the sheep, if that's a different person, but you won't have to worry about who is responsible as it will not be the driver.

Hope you're step daughter is OK today, she will have been really shaken up by it, I know I would.

[DTCwordfan]

It wasn't a case of baa-d driving........

[EDDIE51]

DT, Yes, I said it was down to the insurance in the 2nd answer at 16.91 yesterday.
Some people seem to ignore the obvious that if you have an accident you inform your insurance and let them sort it out, that is what we pay them for after all.

[daffy-dill]

Thanks to all. We have reported it to the insurance, but it seems it's not that simple. Will have to wait and see. Thanks for your concern Maydup, she is feeling much better.

[heathfield]

Here in Scotland, the law is clear. If the sheep was on fenced land, and it gets onto a road, the farmer is responsible. If the sheep was on unfenced land, (and there are a lot of sheep on a lot of unfenced land in Scotland), the motorist is responsible. (Tip. If you come across a lamb on one side of the road, and a ewe on the other side of the road, then slow down or stop, because it's a 100% certainty the lamb will dash back to its mum right in front of you at the last instant).
(Another tip for Scotland. If you kill a deer, or come across a dead one, don't touch it - report it to the police. If the police find anyone carrying a dead deer they will be automatically suspected of poaching, and the penalties for that are pretty severe. You would likely be taken to the local lockup, and held there while a vet carries out a post-mortem to determine whether the animal has been shot. And the vet may not appear till next day if he's called out of normal working hours!)

[Elliemaker]

Like Scotland, much depends on where you are when you hit the sheep. Farmers have a legal responsibility to secure their animals and can be liable if one strays onto the highway and causes an accident. However, there are places, e.g. Dartmoor in Devon where the animals have legal right of way, and therefore the farmer would not be liable. It's for drivers to slow right down and be ready to stop.