Why Your Driving Matters to Wildlife
I get tailgated more often than I would like.
You know the driver. The one who pulls up so close behind you that you can barely see their headlights.
Apparently, those extra few feet are going to get them wherever they’re going considerably faster. What they will do is take away the
reaction time both of you may desperately need. It Won’t
Because I don’t just see the car in front of me when I’m driving. I’m watching the shoulders of the road, looking for deer near the tree line, and keeping an eye out for turtles on the pavement. Also looking for those squirrels making terrible decisions, geese crossing with their families, and dogs or cats that may suddenly appear where they shouldn’t be.
And if I have to stop suddenly for one of them, the person riding my bumper has just created a second emergency.
Your impatience isn’t worth an animal’s life. It isn’t worth mine, either.
Tailgating Doesn’t Make Anyone Go Faster
Let’s get something out of the way.
Tailgating isn’t impressive. It doesn’t make you a better driver, and intimidating the person in front of you isn’t going to magically remove every other vehicle from the road.
What it does is reduce the space available when something unexpected happens.
And wildlife is very good at being unexpected.
A deer can appear in seconds. A turtle may be sitting in the road just beyond a curve. A squirrel can reverse direction three times before finally deciding where it wants to go.
The driver ahead of you may need to brake.
If you’re practically sitting in their back seat, you’ve turned their wildlife emergency into a human emergency too.
Back off.
The Road Doesn’t Belong Only to Us
Wild animals don’t understand roads.
We built highways through their habitat by dividing forests, wetlands and fields. Pavement was added to further the burden and then expected wildlife to somehow understand our rules.
They don’t.
A turtle doesn’t know that the speed limit is 45 miles per hour.
A deer doesn’t understand how quickly a vehicle can cover the distance between the tree line and the road.
That mother goose isn’t trying to ruin your morning when she walks her goslings across the pavement.
They’re trying to survive in a landscape we changed.
We know what a car can do. They don’t.
That gives us the greater responsibility.
Put the Phone Down
Some things really are this simple.
Put the phone down.
Any phone call or text can wait.
The notification can wait.
Whatever just happened on social media can definitely wait.
The turtle you didn’t see can’t.
Neither can the dog that slipped out of someone’s yard, the deer stepping onto the road or the bird that suddenly flew in front of your windshield.
Driving requires your attention because circumstances can change in seconds.
That message will still be there when you arrive. The animal you didn’t see may not be.
Slow Down Where Wildlife Lives
I live in an area where wildlife is part of everyday life.
That means I expect animals.
When I’m driving near woods, ponds, fields and other habitat, particularly around dawn and dusk, I’m watching for movement.
If I see one deer, I’m looking for another.
When geese are near the roadway, I’m prepared for them to cross.
Encountering or seeing something unusual on the pavement ahead, I don’t assume it’s a leaf until I’m practically on top of it.
It could be a turtle.
Those few seconds of awareness matter.
You don’t have to drive frightened of everything that might happen. You simply need to drive as though something could happen.
That’s called paying attention.
Yes, I Brake for Animals
I’ve stopped for turtles,
Waited for geese.
And slowed down because I saw wildlife near the shoulder.
You guessed it…I will continue doing it.
Obviously, nobody should cause a dangerous crash trying to avoid an animal when a collision truly cannot be avoided safely. But most wildlife collisions are unavoidable and the fault of careless humans. Some of the reasons:
Going too fast.
Not paying attention (and putting the phone down and NOT looking at it while the car in moving. Would it be worth it for a dead child, someone’s beloved pet, or our wildlife?).
Following another vehicle too closely.
Saving an animal requires nothing more complicated than seeing it soon enough to slow down.
That matters.
Driver’s Education Taught Me Something I Never Forgot
When I took driver’s education in high school, they didn’t sugarcoat what could happen in a serious collision.
I saw images that were extremely difficult to look at. Decades later, I still remember them.
Maybe that was the point.
It taught me something I’ve carried throughout my life:
A vehicle can become a weapon when the person controlling it stops treating driving as a responsibility.
Thousands of pounds of metal moving at highway speeds deserve your complete attention.
That responsibility extends to the people around you.
It also extends to animals.
“It’s Just a Squirrel” Isn’t Good Enough
One of the attitudes I’d particularly like to change is the idea that some animals simply don’t matter.
Just a squirrel.
Oh, that goose doesn’t matter.
Why worry about a possum.
It’s just a turtle.
No.
Squirrel’s are part of an ecosystem.
Opossum’s have a role in the environment.
The goose may have a mate and young nearby.
That turtle may have survived for decades before reaching the particular road you’re driving on.
And that animal doesn’t become worthless simply because it is common.
A life doesn’t have to be rare before it deserves consideration.
Sometimes the Driver Ahead of You Sees Something You Don’t
Remember this the next time someone in front of you suddenly slows down.
There could be a turtle in front of their tire.
A deer could be approaching from their side of the road.
Possibly an animal injured on the pavement.
There could be a family of geese crossing ahead.
Give them some room.
Your horn isn’t going to make the turtle move faster.
Your bumper isn’t going to make the deer understand traffic.
And your impatience isn’t going to make the situation safer.
Wildlife Already Has Enough Working Against It
Animals are dealing with disappearing habitat, pesticides, pollution, plastic, fishing line, shrinking food sources and expanding development.
They shouldn’t also have to contend with drivers who can’t spare a few seconds.
We can’t prevent every wildlife collision.
We can prevent some of them.
And when the solution is something as simple as slowing down, leaving adequate space, watching the road and putting away the phone, there really isn’t a good excuse not to do it.
A Few Seconds Aren’t Worth a Life
So here’s my request and I’m not going to dress it up.
Get off the bumper of the car in front of you.
Slow down.
Put the phone away.
Watch the shoulders.
Expect another deer.
Give the turtle time.
Let the geese cross.
And stop treating another driver like they’re inconveniencing you because they refuse to run over an animal.
You’ll still get where you’re going.
The animal might get where it’s going too.
A little patience costs you nothing. Careless driving can cost everything.
🐢 🦌 🪿 🐿️ 🦊 ❤️
Slow down. Pay attention. Share the road.
The wild things are trying to get home, too.
Whiskered Garden
People. Animals. Pollinators. Healthy Habitats.
