State reports rise in vehicles crashing into animals

Animals caused 5,103 crashes in Tennessee in 2001, including three fatalities, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol. That’s up from 4,067 accidents in 1997.

“It’s kind of a sore spot to farmers,” said Jeff Smith, Dickson County extension agent.

On Tuesday, a truck driver died trying to avoid the carcass of a bull struck a few minutes earlier after roaming onto Interstate 40. The crash forced the closure of 40 miles of the highway.

The truck, loaded with containers of hydrochloric acid and a flammable paint resin, careened off the road and partially overturned. It took several hours to clean up the mess.

Authorities suspect the bull may have escaped from a nearby pasture.

The wreck illustrates a growing problem with farm and wild animals.

It used to be that farmers didn’t have to worry so much about a runaway cow. But increased traffic in rural areas near expanding developments has changed that. The problem is made worse by the state’s growing deer population.

Officials said Interstate 65 in Giles County, on the Tennessee-Alabama border, is particularly troublesome, with farm animals slipping through fences to graze along the interstate median. State troopers have helped corral and remove the animals.

In Tennessee, livestock owners are legally responsible for maintaining livestock-grade fencing on their property, although the law doesn’t always hold them responsible for accidental animal escapes.

Farmers can face a misdemeanor charge if they ignore animals with bad habits.

“There are some cattle that are like Houdini; they can escape any fence,” said Pettus Read of the Tennessee Farm Bureau.

The issue has come up so often that a few years ago the Tennessee Farm Bureau published a brochure on state fence laws.

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