Stopped at the side of Macs Reef Road, north of Canberra, with the hazards lights flashing on her badly damaged Ford Focus, the woman driver was out of the car and sobbing.
She was unhurt but her hatchback had hit a kangaroo mid-leap and front-on at around 90kmh; hard enough to stove in the car's grille and radiator, peel back part of the bonnet, smash the animal's body against the now-decimated windscreen and trigger both front airbags.
However, she also thought her car was on fire because the cabin had filled with what appeared to be smoke.
But the smoke was gypsum. The fine powder, similar to talcum, is often packed between the tight folds of airbags when they are manufactured. When the big front airbags deploy - generally in 20 to 30 milliseconds - the powder is showered inside the cabin.
And to those who have never experienced a full airbag deployment, the shock of that explosive act, combined with the powdery aftermath, is a confronting experience.
Usually in a double airbag deployment collision such as that a repairer must replace the full dashboard assembly, plus repair the body parts and any damaged mechanical components. This is often enough to declare the vehicle a statutory write-off.
Around 17 per cent of animal collisions in the ACT last year resulted in the territory's largest insurer, NRMA Insurance, writing off the damaged vehicles as total losses.
Kangaroos account for around 95 per cent of animal collisions in the ACT region, the remainder made up of wombats, wallabies, deer and birds.
Cattle and camels are road issues elsewhere in the country but not in the ACT region.
However, the animal collision issue is increasing, says the insurer.
Claims from animal strikes rose 34 per cent in 2023, compared with 2022.
This marked the highest number of incidents since 2019.
The average cost of repair from these types of collisions was nearly $7000, the insurer said.
Across the NSW-ACT region, Goulburn, Canberra and Dubbo are the most high-risk areas for animal strikes, the insurer said.
The Bush Capital, with around 450,000 people - many of them who drive cars - plonked in the middle of an eastern grey kangaroo habitat is an odds-on bet for the title.
NRMA Insurance executive manager Natalie Major said motorists in strike-prone areas should slow down during dawn and dusk periods.
She said swerving to avoid a kangaroo came with its own set of high risks.
"If you see an animal on the road while driving, try to slow down and don't swerve to avoid it, as you run the risk of colliding with another car or running off the road," she said.
Based on last year's NRMA claims data, two of Canberra's busiest connecting highways, the Monaro and the Kings Highway, were ranked first and second in NSW for prevalence of animal collisions by the insurer, followed by the Hume Highway at Yass.
The ACT government said the rate of crashes was higher in winter.
For years, debate has raged over the effectiveness of sonic whistles to deter wildlife.
Some ambulance drivers in western NSW firm are advocates but a university test conducted at Victoria's Werribee Open Plains Zoo on resident kangaroos failed to make the animals take flight; they either ignored it completely or just glanced up as it drove by.
