Police incidents involving wallabies
| Authority | Isle of Man Constabulary |
|---|---|
| Date received | 2018-07-27 |
| Outcome | All information sent |
| Outcome date | 2018-08-02 |
| Case ID | 553134 |
Summary
The requester asked for the number of police incidents involving wallabies over the last five years. The Isle of Man Constabulary disclosed that while wallabies are not classified as animals under the Road Traffic Act, they identified 9 total incidents between 2014 and 2018, including collisions, carcass discoveries, and a marine rescue.
Key Facts
- Wallabies are not classified as 'an animal' under the Road Traffic Act 1985, so specific road traffic collision data is insufficient.
- The Constabulary relied on Incident data from the Command and Control system to compile the figures.
- A total of 9 incidents were recorded between 2014 and 2018.
- Only one incident in 2014 was recorded as a Road Traffic Collision (RTC) where a vehicle swerved to avoid a wallaby and hit a wall.
- Other incidents included three notifications of wallaby carcasses, three car/wallaby collisions, and one marine rescue.
Data Disclosed
- 2014: 1 incident
- 2015: 4 incidents
- 2016: 3 incidents
- 2017: 1 incident
- 2018 so far: 0 incidents
- Total: 9 incidents
- Road Traffic Act 1985
- January 2013
- 27 July 2018
- 2 August 2018
- Reference number 553134
Original Request
I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information from the Isle of Man Constabulary: The number of incidents reported to the force for each of the last five calendar years (broken down by calendar year) involving wallabies. If it is not possible to provide the information requested due to the information exceeding the cost of compliance limits identified in Section 12, please provide advice and assistance, under the Section 16 obligations of the Act, as to how I can refine my request. If you can identify any ways that my request could be refined please provide further advice and assistance to indicate this. If you have any queries please don't hesitate to contact me and I will be happy to clarify what I am asking for. Thank you for your time and I look forward to your response.
Data Tables (1)
| Year | Number of Incidents |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 1 |
| 2015 | 4 |
| 2016 | 3 |
| 2017 | 1 |
| 2018 so far | 0 |
Full Response Text
Isle of Man Constabulary Freedom of Information Department of Home Affairs Headquarters Tromode Road, Douglas Isle of Man, IM2 5PA Tel: +44(0)1624631394 Email: DPO-Police@gov.im Our ref: 553134 2 August 2018
Dear ###
We write further to your request which was received on 27 July 2018 and which states:
"I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information from the Isle of Man Constabulary: The number of incidents reported to the force for each of the last five calendar years (broken down by calendar year) involving wallabies. If it is not possible to provide the information requested due to the information exceeding the cost of compliance limits identified in Section 12, please provide advice and assistance, under the Section 16 obligations of the Act, as to how I can refine my request. If you can identify any ways that my request could be refined please provide further advice and assistance to indicate this. If you have any queries please don't hesitate to contact me and I will be happy to clarify what I am asking for. Thank you for your time and I look forward to your response. Regards, "
Our response to your request is as follows: I have detailed below the information that is being released to you. The sources of this data were road traffic collisions recorded by the Police on open roads since January 2013. Other police incident data held on the Command and Control system was also analysed.
There is no statutory requirement for the Constabulary to record Road Traffic Collisions
(RTC’s) involving wallabies as such as they are not classified as “an animal” for the
purposes of the Road Traffic Act 1985 therefore data was insufficient so there is one
recorded Road Traffic Collisions – see below. Therefore the Constabulary relies on the
Incident data from the Command and Control system.
Year
Number of
Incidents
2014
1
2015
4
2016
3
2017
1
2018 so far
0
Of these incidents only one (2014) was recorded as a RTC, as the vehicle swerved to
avoid a wallaby and hit a wall.
The other eight incidents include three notifications of discovery of a wallaby carcass
on the carriageway.
Three car/wallaby collisions, reports of one dead wallaby on four separate occasions in
a six-week period (2015-16), and one marine rescue of a wallaby.
Please quote the reference number 553134 in any future communications.
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More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.
I will now close your request as of this date.
Yours sincerely