Skip to main content

Sheep might fly

Motorists on a major highway in Australia were delayed recently by large numbers of sheep falling into the roadway. The incident occurred near the town of Geelong when a livestock truck overturned at a highway slip road. A steady stream of the unfortunate animals then fell onto the busy Princes Highway directly below, impacting onto two vehicles in the process and halting traffic for a number of hours. The truck was carrying several hundred animals and large numbers were killed or injured as they fell onto
October 9, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Motorists on a major highway in Australia were delayed recently by large numbers of sheep falling into the roadway. The incident occurred near the town of Geelong when a livestock truck overturned at a highway slip road. A steady stream of the unfortunate animals then fell onto the busy Princes Highway directly below, impacting onto two vehicles in the process and halting traffic for a number of hours. The truck was carrying several hundred animals and large numbers were killed or injured as they fell onto the roadway. Luckily, none of the human vehicle occupants were injured in the incident. The highway had to be closed temporarily to allow the roadway to be cleared of dead and dying animals and for any unharmed sheep to be herded away.

Meanwhile in Russia, a driver was forced to halt his car when sheep began circling the vehicle and preventing it from further motion. The animals chased each other round the vehicle and were undeterred in this action, despite the man’s revving of the engine and his curses. The incident was captured on a 22 second video clip that was widely viewed on the internet. The animals later declined to comment on their protest.

Related Content

  • Pay attention to The Ray, urges WheelRight’s John Catling
    July 17, 2017
    Development of the connected and sustainable highways is moving quickly in the US and the Far East but progress in Europe is much less impressive. One example of a connected highway that offers an interesting model for European transport planners and policymakers is The Ray, a 29km stretch of Interstate 85 in the state of Georgia. Originally established by a charitable foundation, The Ray offers an inspiring vision of a sustainable highway, even for the near future. Drivers crossing the state line from Ala
  • Securing safer transportation infrastructure through non-destructive technology
    June 16, 2014
    Kevin Vine reports on the use of non-destructive testing for structural analysis of bridges Seven years ago, the overpass collapse in Laval, Québec that led to the death of five people brought to light severe issues with the state of the country’s bridges and transportation infrastructure. More recently, a crack in the Champlain Bridge to Montreal that forced over 160,000 commuters to find alternate routes to work reaffirmed a need for greater emphasis on early detection before a crisis occurs.
  • Lion’s share
    September 11, 2015
    A number of visitors to South Africa’s famous Kruger National Park had a rather close-up view of a lion attacking an antelope recently. The drivers were sitting in their cars when a lion sprang at an antelope, tearing at its throat and killing the unfortunate animal almost instantly. This was photographed in graphic detail by the visitors, although some rather rashly opened their car windows so as to get a better view. Only a short time previously a visitor to the park was killed when a lion pounced through
  • Rebuilding a historic bridge linking the US and Canada
    March 8, 2016
    While many road authorities in North America are finding it difficult to stretch their bridge assets beyond half a century, one bridge is closing in on its centenary - David Arminas reports The international Peace Bridge, connecting the Canadian province of Ontario with the US state of New York, is 88 years young this year, and still going strong.