5 Things You Should Know About Animals on the Road in Montana

What You Should Know About Animals While Driving in Montana

A brand-new BMW, truly a thing of beauty!  Charlie (the name has been changed for the purposes of this story) gripped the wheel with ease as he roared along the Swan Highway (US Highway 83).  He had just bought this ultimate driving machine in Missoula and wanted to take it along a highway where he could test its handling capability.  Unfortunately for him he chose one of the most heavily populated wildlife areas in Montana.

What follows is from the viewpoint of the driver of the car behind Charlie.  Going at a speed upwards of 90 miles per hour, Charlie was just beginning to test the full speed of his new toy on a straight-away, when I deer stepped out of the trees. A quarter mile behind Charlie, the driver saw the deer step out, saw Charlie’s break lights and then saw a poof of hair and a deer flipping through the air and landing well behind Charlie’s car.  Totaled.  Done.  Game over.

Montana ranks third nationally for wildlife-vehicle collisions.  Montanans have a 1 in 75 chance of hitting an animal.  We also have numerous areas that allow free range livestock grazing, so your chances of hitting a cow or horse are also high.  I personally had numerous close calls with wildlife before nailing a cow in an open range area.  Whether you are a resident or just visiting, you should be prepared to deal with the reality of animals on the road.  Here are 5 things you should know about hitting animals:

1.       Don’t swerve- Unless you have a lot of time, can slow down significantly and can see the other lane of traffic well, you are better off just nailing whatever animal is in the road.  Far more serious injuries are caused by people swerving around animals than by actually hitting them.

2.       Only comprehensive insurance covers animal collisions- Montana law requires liability insurance and if your car is financed you probably have to have collision insurance, but collision insurance does not cover wildlife collisions.  Strange, but true.  So if you live in a high-wildlife-density area, you might consider adding comprehensive to your policy and/or a grill guard if you have a bigger vehicle.

3.       Hitting livestock will usually cost you, sometimes even for property damages.  Ranchers are only liable for your vehicle damages if their animal is in an area where it’s not supposed to be and the rancher can be shown as negligent.  This is hard to prove.  Once again, only comprehensive coverage covers your vehicle’s damage.  If the animal is in an open range area, you might even be liable for property damages for the animal you hit.

4.       Your regular insurance coverage usually applies when you rent a car.  Check your policy to be sure, but typically your car insurance coverage will transfer straight across, in the event of an accident in a rental car.  Ex: if you have liability insurance, you will have liability coverage if you hit someone in a rental car.  But again, for animal collisions to be covered, you have to have comprehensive.  You can get more coverage specifically for a rental car by buying it through the rental car company or through your credit card company.

5.       You can eat what you hit and other people’s roadkill.  It may sound strange to you, but you can pick up road kill, take it home and as long as you get a free permit for it within 24 hours, you can salvage what meat isn't bad and eat it.  Last year was the first year Montana had this law and 865 permits were issued and 135 of them were issued in Flathead County (Kalispell area).