Drovers and locals are asking for motorists to use caution when livestock are about

Debbie Prest was on the Olympic Highway between Young and Cowra on Monday morning when a drover was moving cattle from one side of the Monteagle stock route to the other.

“Two cars behind us was a stock truck who honked his horn and carried on scattering the cattle. There were young calves and the oncoming cars were coming pretty fast.” Mrs Prest said.

Mrs Prest who was towing a horse float at the time was left frustrated as she believed that the truck driver should’ve known better since he was clearly hauling livestock.

“There are some ignorant, stupid drivers,” She said.

This isn’t an isolated incident according to drover Jack who said that many motorists ignore the livestock ahead signs.

“You always have that, especially on the main road they ignore the signs,” Jack said.

“Because it’s the highway people don’t know any better with a lot of them being from the city.”

Jack was shifting the 820 head of cattle, eight horses and work dogs that they are droving through Monteagle, Murringo and Bribbaree along stock routes.

It’s not only the safety of the cattle that has Jack worried but the safety of his horses and work dogs too.

“People get through the cattle and think that’s it. There aren’t only cattle, there are horses and working dogs and people.”

Both Mrs Prest and Jack are calling on motorists to keep an eye out for livestock signs and to slow down and drive with caution when they see them to save themselves and others from having or causing an accident.

“When you see a sign with a picture of an animal, or words such as 'stock crossing', you may be approaching animals on or near the road.

You must slow down or stop to avoid crashing into them. Fines apply if you do not obey these signs,” the Roads and Maritime Services said.

According to Jack and his fellow drovers, the fastest way to get through livestock on the road is to stop and wait for them to pass. 

Honking the horn may cause the livestock to scatter across the road dangerously and potentially cause damage to themselves or others or to stop and look for the source of the sound.

It is important to remember that even though drovers try their hardest to make sure stock do the right thing livestock can be unpredictable so motorists should always use caution when approaching them and pay attention to all warning and safety signs when using the road.