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

  • Planning for China's future
    July 23, 2012
    The second comprehensive transport study of Jiangsu Province is a good example of road policy in action. Samuel C F Wong, Technical Director, Scott Wilson Ltd explains Jiangsu Province on the eastern coast of China, with a population of 76 million, is one of the fastest growing in the country. Between 1990 and 2007 GDP growth averaged some 16%/year. Economic growth, however, has not occurred evenly. Two-thirds of the province's wealth has accumulated in its southern half. With Jiangsu's rapid economic expan
  • Highway project in Texas required demolition equipment
    May 1, 2018
    A contractor in Texas has used equipment from Brokk to help out with a tricky highway project. Upgrading work has been carried out on a 6.4km-long stretch of I-35 in San Antonio between Loop 410 NE and Loop 410 S. This stretch of the route was carrying around 185,000 vehicles/day and was suffering increasing levels of congestion at peak periods. Travel times lengthened by 65% during rush hour, while ramps on opposite sides of the interstate caused additional congestion and safety issues. In one section, t
  • John Hopkins report: iRAP boosts safety
    May 17, 2024
    A paper and report from Johns Hopkins University suggests that 700,000 deaths and severe injuries have been prevented through road safety projects using the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) methodology.
  • Urban gridlock for UK capital?
    March 8, 2017
    The UK’s capital London suffers from some of the worst traffic congestion in Europe, with only Moscow registering far worse conditions on a regular basis. Traffic speeds along key routes in the centre of the city have long had a reputation for being low but recent research shows that they have fallen yet again. According to Transport for London (TfL), average traffic speeds in the centre of the city are just 12.5km/h, roughly the same as they were in the 19th century when the majority of road traffic was ho