Drivers have to report hitting cat or face £10,000 fine

Wednesday 06 October 2021

Drivers who think they may have hit or run over a cat will now be legally obliged to stop and inform the owner or the JSPCA, after States Members agreed to update Jersey’s traffic laws.

Yesterday, politicians approved the final stage of a process that began in 2019, when the States Assembly backed a proposal by Deputy Jeremy Maçon requesting that the Government strengthen the law around ‘hit and runs’ involving felines.

The Deputy’s proposition was, in turn, prompted by an online petition, which called for reporting of an accident involving a cat to become law, as it is for other animals.

The petition was set up by cat lover and campaigner Sandra Jasmins, with the backing of island group ‘Equal Rights 4 Cats’ and soon became the first ever to hit 1,000 signatures, triggering a government response. 

It went on to surpass the 5,000-signature threshold, prompting it to be debated in the Chamber.

The States Assembly has voted to APPROVE the Minister for Infrastructure, @Deputy_Lewis’ Draft Road Traffic proposal. https://t.co/vSJ94ZWdWY

— States Assembly - Jersey's elected parliament (@StatesAssembly) October 5, 2021

Under the updated regulations, the driver of a motor vehicle on a public road who thinks he or she has hit or run over a cat must do two things.

Firstly, the driver must stop “as soon as it is safe and reasonably practicable to do so." Secondly, the driver must notify either a person who is responsible for caring for the cat or the JSPCA.

Failure to comply with this is now an offence, punishable with a maximum fine of £10,000, plus a possible endorsement and disqualification of the driver’s licence.

Where an accident is reported to the JSPCA, the charity must keep a record of the information given and make that available to any person who “seems to have reasonable grounds for requiring it."

The island’s road traffic rules have been updated in other areas too. These include:

• there is no longer a duty on the driver to stop if the only damage caused by the accident is to the driver’s vehicle provided that no person is injured or other property damaged, and no horse, cattle, ass, mule, sheep, pig, goat or dog is injured.

• If no one is injured, which includes the animals listed above, and no property is damaged, there is no duty to report an accident to the police if the driver gives his or her name and address and other specified information such as insurance details to anyone who has a justified reason to ask for them.

• However, if no one asks for the information or the driver refuses to give it on request, the driver must report the accident to the police.