Volvo safety: staying alert on darker Perthshire roads

Camerons Volvo · Safety · 28 October 2026

With the clocks now back, more journeys around Perth and Perthshire will take place after dark. New analysis from Volvo Car UK underlines why awareness of animals on the road matters: 54% of police-recorded animal-related injury collisions in Great Britain happened in darkness, compared with 28% of injury collisions overall.

The findings at a glance

Volvo Car UK analysed Department for Transport STATS19 records for 2021–2025. The analysis identified 1,503 personal-injury collisions in which an animal was recorded as a carriageway hazard, with 1,939 human casualties.

Why this matters in Perthshire

For people travelling between Perth and surrounding towns and villages, the findings are a timely reminder to adjust to changing light and road conditions. Rural roads accounted for almost four in five of the recorded collisions. The Scotland figures cover the whole Police Scotland area; they are not a Perthshire total or a ranking of local roads.

Across Great Britain, almost three in ten of these collisions occurred between 7pm and midnight, with 9pm the highest individual hour. August recorded the largest monthly total, followed by October and then November. Wildlife awareness matters throughout the year.

Safety shaped by real-world experience

Volvo Cars has studied large-animal collisions since the 1980s. At its Safety Centre in Gothenburg, engineers use specialist equipment, including a 360 kg moose crash-test dummy, to investigate severe impacts and improve their understanding of how people can be protected.

In 2016, Volvo introduced Large Animal Detection. On vehicles equipped with the system, sensors and algorithms are designed to recognise large animals, assess collision risk, warn the driver and apply braking when needed to help mitigate an impact.

Connected Safety provides another form of support, allowing compatible Volvo cars to share information about certain road hazards through the cloud. Availability and operation depend on the model, model year, market and equipment. Consult your car’s owner’s manual for the systems fitted to your Volvo and their limitations.

Driver assistance supports an attentive driver; it does not replace one. Detection and braking systems cannot recognise every hazard or prevent every collision.

“But staying alert and adapting your speed to the conditions remain essential, especially on darker winter journeys.”

Prepare your Volvo for darker journeys

Allow time to check your lights, keep the windscreen clean and ensure your wipers and washer fluid are ready for poor weather. Follow the tyre-pressure guidance for your car and investigate warning messages or changes in braking performance promptly. Adapt your speed to visibility and road conditions, and stay alert for wildlife near woodland and open countryside.

Our team on Arran Road, Perth can help with routine servicing, MOTs and maintenance concerns. Explore Volvo aftersales, service and parts at Camerons Volvo, or book your Volvo service online. Maintenance supports the condition of your car; it cannot remove the risk of an animal appearing unexpectedly.

The figures behind the findings

These are police-recorded personal-injury collisions on public roads in Great Britain, not a count of all animal strikes or animal deaths. Incidents without a recorded human injury are outside this analysis. Regional totals also reflect different areas, populations and traffic volumes; they do not establish an individual driver’s risk.

Source: Volvo Car UK analysis of Department for Transport STATS19 data, 2021–2025. Regional shares are supplied rounded percentages and may not total exactly 100%. Read Volvo’s release and view the DfT road safety open data.