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Wild boar car crashes cost more than elk wrecks: Swedish study

A car collision with a wild boar is 27 percent costlier than running into an elk, a new Swedish study has revealed.

Published: 26 January 2009 17:33 CET

According to the Älgskadefondsföreningen (‘Elk damages fund association’), Swedish motorists paid an average of 37,000 kronor to repair their vehicles following a collision with a wild boar.

By comparison, hitting an elk causes an average of 29,000 kronor in repair costs, while accidents involving the common deer cost drivers around 17,000 kronor per accident.

The wild boar’s height is the primary reason for the beast’s capacity for causing costly car wrecks, according to Fredrik Valgren, an auto damage specialist with the Länsförsäkring Kronoberg insurance company, which cooperated in the study.

“The reason that wild boars cause the greatest material injury is that the wild boar’s centre of gravity sits at the same height as the car’s front end. The impact is strongest where the car’s most expensive components are housed,” he said in a statement.

Swedish roads were the site of 39,527 accidents with large game in 2008, including 5,118 with elk, 2,462 with wild boars, and 30,982 involving deer.

While deer are the least costly type of animal to hit on a per-accident basis, according to the study, the high number of accidents makes car-deer collisions the most costly overall, resulting in more than 526 million kronor in vehicular damages in 2008.

By comparison, the total cost of elk collisions came to 148.4 million kronor, while wild boar accidents resulted in a total of just over 91 million kronor in car repairs.

The association hopes the study’s results will remind politicians of the importance of funding measures to hinder the animals from reaching Swedish roads, and to curb the explosive growth in wild animal herds in Sweden.

EXPLAINED: When can a child sit in the front seat of a car in Switzerland?

In Switzerland, a simple rule for taking children in motor vehicles has been in place for a good two decades: Every child up to a height of 150 cm or the age of 12 must travel in a suitable child seat.

Its Austrian neighbour has even stricter rules in place. Babies and children in Austria must be correctly secured in a child’s seat up to the age of 14 if they are below 135 cm in height.

The German law takes a more relaxed approach and regulates that children from the age of 12 or those that are taller than 150 cm can ride in the vehicle without a child seat – with the appropriate seat belt, of course.

When can a child sit in the front?

According to the law in Switzerland, once a child has reached a height of 150 cm, they can sit anywhere in the car with or without a child or booster seat.

However, a child needs to reach a minimum height of 150 cm for the safety belts to guarantee their safety in a way that the neck is not constricted while driving in the event of sudden braking or an accident.

In principle, children are allowed to sit on the front passenger seat regardless of their age, however, this is not recommended by experts who argue that children are much safer in the back of the car. Furthermore, if a vehicle is equipped with airbags, rear-facing car seats may only be used if the front airbag on the passenger’s side is deactivated.

A driver at the Stelvio Pass, Santa Maria Val Müstair, Switzerland.

A driver at the Stelvio Pass, Santa Maria Val Müstair, Switzerland. Photo by Jaromír Kavan on Unsplash

Can I be fined for my child travelling without an appropriate car seat?

You can and you will. The fine for transporting an unsecured child under the age of 12 is 60 francs, which, given the risk driving without an appropriate child seat poses to your child’s life, is mild.

But what about public transport?

Though this may seem illogical to some, Switzerland does not have any safety laws dictating that car seats be used on its buses, meaning it is not uncommon to see mothers standing in the aisle of a packed bus with a baby in a sling while struggling to hold on to a pole for stability.

Though politicians did briefly discuss equipping buses with baby and child seats in 2017 to avoid potential risks to minors, nothing came of it. Ultimately, supplying buses with special seats or introducing seat belts proved unrealistic given the number of seats and considering how often people hop on and off a bus – there is a stop almost every 300 metres in Switzerland.

Instead, drivers are now better informed of the dangers posed to minors travelling on their vehicles and parents are advised to leave children in strollers and not load those with heavy shopping bags.

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