Dashcam footage could lead to more drivers being caught for breaching a little-known road rule that attracts fines of up to $5,500 and up to six months in prison.
In NSW, motorists are obligated to "take reasonable steps to alleviate pain" if they strike an animal with their vehicle.
Effectively, this means they must stop when it's safe and call for help from rescuers or police so an animal isn't left to slowly die.
But collecting evidence to prosecute those who don't follow the law is a hurdle, and animals with severe injuries are often left untreated for hours or even days.
Officially, the law relates to all animals other than birds and is contained within the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, under Part 2 Offences, Section 14(a).
Despite wildlife hit-and-runs being a daily occurrence, Bureau of Crime Statistics data (BOSCAR) reveals only four finalised charges have been recorded over the 10 years to December 2025.
To understand the lack of prosecutions, Yahoo News reached out to the government agency responsible for the rule, the Department of Primary Industries (DPIRD).
But it revealed that enforcement has been delegated to three other agencies.
The first, NSW Police, indicated that a lack of public reports is likely a key cause.
The other two enforcement agencies are the RSPCA NSW and the Animal Welfare League (AWL) NSW.
DPIRD said neither had reported any court proceedings about the rule from the period 2015-16 to 2024-25.
RSPCA confirmed it receives a "significant number" of reports of vehicle strikes involving animals, but investigating them is difficult.
"In many cases, the injuries are severe and require either urgent veterinary treatment or humane euthanasia," a spokesperson said.
"In practice, however, many incidents involving injured kangaroos are unwitnessed and therefore go unreported by a direct witness, making any investigation difficult."
The AWL said, "If we do receive a complaint we will investigate and where the evidence supports it, take further action".
Have you witnessed a wildlife road incident? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
Leanne Taylor, the CEO of rescue service WIRES, agrees that most people in NSW are unaware of the road rule.
Therefore, even when people capture a hit-and-run incident with their dashcam, the footage is unlikely to be handed over to authorities.
Animal Justice Party MP Emma Hurst believes another problem with enforcing the law is that it's hard to gauge whether it's safe for a driver to stop to render aid.
But she notes deliberate wildlife hit-and-runs are another story, and dashcam footage can be important in prosecuting offenders.
"We definitely want to see more people reporting them," she told Yahoo News.
Rescue groups believe education is the answer to solving the problem, and several of them have backed a proposal to add a question about it to driver's license tests.
The NSW Wildlife Council, the peak body for wildlife rescuers and rehabilitators, agrees that the answer is to raise awareness of the law among drivers.
"A lot of the problem is ignorance," Vice Chair Sherryl Broderick told Yahoo News.
But she concedes that even with awareness, offering aid can be a challenge, particularly on busy roads.
"Even with our carers, the first thing we tell them is to scan around and make sure they're safe first," she said.
Broderick hopes that technology could help reduce road collisions, noting that some car manufacturers are improving AI animal detection.
She is also hopeful that mapping services like Google Maps or Waze will soon include collision hotspots.
"The future is that kind of technology, and helping drivers learn about the environment they're in, and providing alerts."
The Australian Wildlife Protection Council, an advocacy group, believes roadside virtual fences that detect animals and alert drivers will play a role.
"There is some strong evidence that they do work," spokesperson Maria Taylor said.
"We'd like to encourage more councils to use them."
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