What Happens If You Hit an Animal in Kentucky and Keep Driving?

I pass Owensboro Community College every day, and if you know anything about its grounds, you know that it is often covered with geese and ducks. On one occasion a few years back, I saw sheriffs circling a dead goose on the same highway. They'd even put out cones. This is the stretch of U.S. 231 in question.

Google Street View

What to Do When You Hit an Animal

For those who don't know, geese and ducks, by the scores, hang out on the pond on OCC's property. And, periodically, they will walk across the road, and not very fast. That makes them susceptible to getting hit, although nearly every driver I've seen in the area slows down and gives them all the space and time they need.

Seeing that dead goose made me wonder: if you hit a goose and keep driving, have you broken the law?

Your Legal Responsibility After Hitting an Animal

While I couldn't find anything specifically about geese, I came upon some information from Maze Law Offices about what you should do if you hit a horse or a cow. If the animal is livestock like a horse or cow, experts recommend contacting law enforcement if necessary, notifying your insurance company if there's vehicle damage, and making every reasonable effort to locate the owner.

Photo by LaDawn Preuninger on Unsplash

What If You Hit a Dog?

I've also spoken with Kentucky State Trooper Corey King about this subject, and we were speaking specifically about dogs. If you do hit a dog and drive off, you are not breaking the law, but we all hope that you would try to find the owner, if possible. It's a common courtesy issue more than anything else, although civil legal matters could present themselves.

Findlaw.com tells us that laws governing actions after hitting an animal vary from state to state. In Kentucky, the legal answer depends largely on what kind of animal is involved, but whenever it's safe to do so, stopping and notifying the proper people is almost always the right thing to do.