Kangaroo strike causes steering damage and loss of vehicle control

What happened?

While travelling in the early morning, a vehicle collided with a kangaroo.

Upon impact the vehicle’s steering was abruptly directed to the right, without any input from the driver.

The vehicle veered across the opposite side of the road, onto the unsealed shoulder and made contact with several tree branches on the side of the road prior to the driver regaining control and bringing the vehicle to a controlled stop.

Bent steering drag link following impact

Why did it happen?

The kangaroo impacted the vehicle’s steering drag link resulting in the component being bent.

Point of impact (arrow) and vehicle stop location (lines)

What did they learn?

In the respective vehicle model (and others) the steering linkage is vulnerable to damage due to its position.

A suitable engineering control which protects this vulnerable component (an under-body protection plate) was fitted, tested and evaluated.

Protection will be retrofitted to all affected vehicles in the fleet with this exposure and pre-installed on new deliveries.

Steering linkage is vulnerable to damage due to its position

Ask yourself or your crew

Does your journey management process consider possible collisions with animals? How do you manage these risks?

Do you have vehicles in your fleet with exposed steering components that are vulnerable to damage?

Have you installed an under-body protection plate (or other suitable engineering control) to protect exposed steering components from damage?

Does your journey management process include vehicle pre-start inspections? How would you report any defects involving steering?

What happened?

While travelling in the early morning, a vehicle collided with a kangaroo.
Upon impact the vehicle’s steering was abruptly directed to the right, without any input from the driver.
The vehicle veered across the opposite side of the road, onto the unsealed shoulder and made contact with several tree branches on the side of the road prior to the driver regaining control and bringing the vehicle to a controlled stop.
Why did it happen?

The kangaroo impacted the vehicle’s steering drag link resulting in the component being bent.
What did they learn?

In the respective vehicle model (and others) the steering linkage is vulnerable to damage due to its position.
A suitable engineering control which protects this vulnerable component (an under-body protection plate) was fitted, tested and evaluated.
Protection will be retrofitted to all affected vehicles in the fleet with this exposure and pre-installed on new deliveries.
Ask yourself or your crew

Does your journey management process consider possible collisions with animals? How do you manage these risks?
Do you have vehicles in your fleet with exposed steering components that are vulnerable to damage?
Have you installed an under-body protection plate (or other suitable engineering control) to protect exposed steering components from damage?
Does your journey management process include vehicle pre-start inspections? How would you report any defects involving steering?