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

  • It’s a deadly business for contractors painting road markings
    August 4, 2015
    Animal welfare groups in the Republic of Ireland are angry over the apparent insensitive act by a road making contractor who painted a yellow line over a dead cat on the side of the highway. A report by Irish newspapers quoted one person saying it was “shameful” and “nobody cared enough to move this poor cat who had been killed by a car and the line was painted over it”.
  • Latest VMS keeps world’s motorists moving safely
    April 10, 2013
    VMS for what is thought to be the longest road tunnel in the Middle East, and the installation of the latest VMS technology in Canada’s oldest national park to help motorists travelling through it are among the projects discussed by Guy Woodford. A large volume of VMS from Italian firm Solari has been installed in the new 4.2km-long Zayed Street Tunnel in Abu Dhabi – thought to be the longest in the Middle East. The Solari VMS supply consisted of 204 lane control signs, with Red, Yellow and Green LED pre-de
  • Summer is here and so bears, moose and other animals on the road
    July 9, 2015
    Summertime, both north and south of the equator, brings more tourists onto the world’s roads that run through some of the planet’s most beautiful parks and nature reserves.
  • UK gets its first wrong-way slip detection installation
    February 13, 2020
    Drivers mistakenly travelling in the wrong direction towards traffic exiting motorways and dual carriageways will be alerted using a pioneering warning system in Scotland.