Yes, while it may be somewhat difficult to believe, the huge, black and grouchy wild boars which inhabit Italy can sometimes be made to pay.  Indeed, in Italy compensation for wild boar induced damage to cars may sometimes be successfully claimed.

This fact was ascertained from Twitter via a Tweet by Gloria of the Casina di Rosa vacation house down in Tuscany who had had a close encounter of the car damaging kind with one of these big pigs.

Despite having caused damage to Gloria’s car to the tune of some 3,600 Euros, the wild boar in question, which Gloria’s car ran over, managed to get up and run off.  Snorting loudly, presumably.  Must have been quite a sore boar though.

Hunters in the area at the time did offer to track down the car-wrecking boar, but said boar managed to avoid ending up as delicious wild boar ragu.

While the boar in question was able to evade the hunters, it was unable to escape the attentions of the sharp eyed Italian lawyer engaged by Gloria who effectively took the boar to court, and tried it in its absence.

Trials Are A Bore for Boar

Wild Boar are renown for being unwilling to turn up in courts, it has to be said.  Word is that they find trials a terrible bore.

The boar in this case was found guilty of damaging the car that ran it over, and was ordered to pay up.  It did not appeal.  Italian judges, being of sound mind and body, know just how difficult it can be to persuade wild boar to pay their dues, so instead of hunting the elusive creature down, they made the Italian province in which the boar was roaming foot the car repair bill.

No Boar Zone Road Signs

Making the province cough up on behalf of the boar was possible because the provincial authorities had omitted to install the right road signs.  Signs which warn motorists that a tract of highway is unfenced.  A lack of fencing makes it far easier for boars to wander onto roads, and drivers need to be advised they are in the midst of a unfenced boar zone.

Generally, Italian provincial authorities do install boar zone warning signs, I’ve been told.  And where such signs are present, motorists whose cars are damaged as a result of a close encounter with a boar have to foot the bumper repair bills themselves -unless they have the requisite insurance.

Beware the Italian Boar

Stop reading, start speaking

Stop translating in your head and start speaking Italian for real with the only audio course that prompt you to speak.

SEE HOW IT WORKS

Moral of this story: If you do meet up with a wild boar whilst driving through Italy, and your vehicle comes of worst from the encounter, do check and see if there were boar zone road signs in the right places. The image on your right is an example of the type of sign which should be located upon entry in areas in which wild boar wander.

When such road signs are absent in Italy, this is potentially a good sign, as it indicates that if you hire a lawyer to attempt to claim back the costs of any beastly repair bills, you may well succeed.

Lots of Accidents in Italy Caused by Boar and More

Just in case you were wondering, by way of example, in the Piedmont region of Italy alone in 2007, there were around 1,200 accidents involving wild animals and vehicles.  Wild Boar were involved in some 400 of these accidents.

Italy is a hilly country and has woodland everywhere, and there are plenty of Roe Deer, Red Deer, and Wild Boar all over the place just waiting for an opportunity to leap out and bury themselves in your windscreen, like this:

Not nice.  Be careful out there! It’s a boar zone.

Source:

Article by the Italian Piedmont Region: Animals causing road accidents in Piedmont, Italy -.pdf file -article in Italian

Wild boar close up by GerardM

Wild boar on road photograph by Filip Dabrowski.

Wild boar Hazard Road Sign in Italy by Bruno Martello