It’s costing us all deer

3:57pm Friday 4th January 2008

THE New Forest is one of the leading locations for accidents involving cars and deer.

This is highlighted in a new study; The Deer Vehicle Collisions project - the first study to centrally collect data on road accidents involving deer.

As many as 75,000 deer are thought to be hit by cars every year in the UK, the vast majority in England.

There are around 200 accidents a day involving deer and the costs per vehicle, with an average insurance claim costing £300, could reach as much as £60,000 per day - over £21 million pounds a year.

Welcoming the study Breakdown service Autonational Rescue's marketing manager Ronan Hart says: "We need to know the scale of the problem in the UK's countryside and on the outskirts of our towns and cities. Previously there was no system for central registration of road accidents involving deer.

"What many motorists don't realise is that deer related traffic accidents very often don't kill the animal outright - which is bad enough - but they have to be either put down by rangers, vets or RSPCA staff afterwards or they escape to die later of their injuries.

"What's more, especially at night in winter fog and rain, they are a major safety hazard to road-users and lead to expensive damage to cars and human injuries and even deaths."

In the worst case scenario, the deer can, in a high speed collision, come through the front windscreen hitting the occupants.

Added Ronan: "Hopefully the study will also help to identify measures that can be used to try to reduce deer collisions, such as fencing, warning signs and the use of roadside reflectors."

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