Deer collision

[NotBenny]

Wrote off my mini last year hitting a deer. Was planning on selling it any way so wasn't the end of the world, got a fair price for it and my excess was pretty low so didn't lose out tremendously.

Was only a small one, so the front end of the car took the brunt of it. Had it been an adult, it would likely have been coming through the windscreen, so could have been a lot worse for me!

[broadwood]

Thanks for your tales of deer encounters folks. I"ll be sure to pay heed to those deer warning signs

[LimaDelta]

TeaNoSugar said:

LimaDelta said:

andyxxx said:

LimaDelta said:

Estimated at around 70,000 hit by cars per year in the UK,.

I'm sure there are loads - but I can't believe that estimate.

That is towards the higher end of the scale but official estimates are between 42,000 and 74,000. Which data are you basing your estimate on?

That seems ridiculously high. An average of 110-202 per day?

Having said that, I just googled how many miles are driven in the Uk each year... 328 billion in 2018!!!! That’s 898,600,000 per day, so at 200 deer strikes a day, that’s one strike for every 4.5 million miles driven in the UK. Seems more reasonable when you look at the massive amount of car use!

This is an older report but has some good info: Deer Collisions

[Dont like rolls]

Greshamst said:

The highest speed appears achievable by a Citroen Xantia Activa, then second is a Nissan Quashqai...

Both beating Audi R8, Mclaren 675LT, Mercedes AMG GT S, Porsche Carrera 4s...

Bizarre

Physics I expect, a rapid change of direction and then you are fighting weight transfer.
I would think the Nissan has very good ESC, not a clue about the Citroen, thought they were just a 90's "Fleet box"

[Aiminghigh123]

https://youtu.be/e-47YetqKJw

This from Russia years ago.

Bear just runs off.

I have hit a fox before on A2 in an old Ford Escort at 70mph. Actually no damaged caused just a fair amount of blood.
I was told if you do hit a deer even if it runs off they often die of internal bleeding.

Edited by Aiminghigh123 on Wednesday 20th November 13:21

[RobRS76]

A time ago i was driving my brand new (2 days out of showroom) Porsche 944 and a deer came out of wood luckily at an angle. Clear road to we both went over entire road still at angle with brakes full on. Luckily no hit on deer or trees. Then a couple of years later a deer jumped into the back of our Hilux. Local gamekeeper finished it off and put it into his freezer. So hopefully that is my quota of deer stories

[CanAm]

RobM77 said:

Krikkit said:

CanAm said:

Shakermaker said:

Yes, last month I had a deer jump out in front of me - at about 3pm on a clear afternoon - and I swerved to avoid it. Didn't hit it though, but I did hit a nice solid oak tree and cause enough damage to write off my car.

Go for the deer rather than a tree every time. Apologies to the animal lovers, but trees are VERY unforgiving if you hit them.

Indeed.

(edited to remove photos, as per request below)

Forgive me if you're not one of these people, but as a general comment (not aimed at you both) I find the "never swerve" message over simplistic and rather ridiculous. I was only thinking about this last night when driving home; as I drive 25k miles a year and live out in the countryside where there are loads of deer, badgers and foxes, plus I work in a reasonably rural area and commute mainly on unlit rural roads. If you're confident and capable in handling a car in a variety of situations, then nipping round an animal in the road or braking hard shouldn't really pose a problem; I did it with a fox last week in fact. Maybe it's my years of racing, but I'm assuming it's not and it's just common sense, but I don't find it particularly taxing differentiating between a dangerous swerve and a safe controlled manoeuvre. Sure, it's partly about sparing the life of the animal, but it's also about protecting your car from damage and potentially an accident (it can often be safer to avoid an animal than plough straight in it - imagine hitting a cow...). I've been driving 25 years, mostly in rural areas, much of it after dark, and have hit one bird in that whole time. Yes, I know a lot of that is probably luck, but much of it is just using main beam where possible and holding the steering wheel properly (not with one hand at the top like many people). I'm fairly sure my Dad's got a similar record of just the one or two birds and he's been driving for 53 years, again out in the countryside in an area known for wildlife and managed game such as pheasants and partridges.

Edited by RobM77 on Wednesday 20th November 12:03

Despite my callous comment, I agree; it's very difficult NOT to swerve automatically when something live jumps out in front of you and you have milliseconds to take your action.

[LimaDelta]

Aiminghigh123 said:

I was told if you do hit a deer even if it runs off they often die of internal bleeding.

Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. As with most things there are a lot of variables. We occasionally find deer with healed broken bones, even multiple ribs, so some certainly do survive.

Like most injured animals, they will go for cover initially. Unless you have a good dog there is little chance you will ever find it.

Edited by LimaDelta on Wednesday 20th November 13:39

[red_slr]

LimaDelta said:

Estimated at around 70,000 hit by cars per year in the UK, they like to lick the salt off the roads which doesn't help at this time of year. We also have the highest deer population for 1000 years.

You are lucky you just clipped it. Could have been a lot worse.

Not sure I trust that figure that's just under 200 a day.

[RobM77]

CanAm said:

RobM77 said:

Krikkit said:

CanAm said:

Shakermaker said:

Yes, last month I had a deer jump out in front of me - at about 3pm on a clear afternoon - and I swerved to avoid it. Didn't hit it though, but I did hit a nice solid oak tree and cause enough damage to write off my car.

Go for the deer rather than a tree every time. Apologies to the animal lovers, but trees are VERY unforgiving if you hit them.

Indeed.

(edited to remove photos, as per request below)

Forgive me if you're not one of these people, but as a general comment (not aimed at you both) I find the "never swerve" message over simplistic and rather ridiculous. I was only thinking about this last night when driving home; as I drive 25k miles a year and live out in the countryside where there are loads of deer, badgers and foxes, plus I work in a reasonably rural area and commute mainly on unlit rural roads. If you're confident and capable in handling a car in a variety of situations, then nipping round an animal in the road or braking hard shouldn't really pose a problem; I did it with a fox last week in fact. Maybe it's my years of racing, but I'm assuming it's not and it's just common sense, but I don't find it particularly taxing differentiating between a dangerous swerve and a safe controlled manoeuvre. Sure, it's partly about sparing the life of the animal, but it's also about protecting your car from damage and potentially an accident (it can often be safer to avoid an animal than plough straight in it - imagine hitting a cow...). I've been driving 25 years, mostly in rural areas, much of it after dark, and have hit one bird in that whole time. Yes, I know a lot of that is probably luck, but much of it is just using main beam where possible and holding the steering wheel properly (not with one hand at the top like many people). I'm fairly sure my Dad's got a similar record of just the one or two birds and he's been driving for 53 years, again out in the countryside in an area known for wildlife and managed game such as pheasants and partridges.

Edited by RobM77 on Wednesday 20th November 12:03

Despite my callous comment, I agree; it's very difficult NOT to swerve automatically when something live jumps out in front of you and you have milliseconds to take your action.

Thanks for your reply, but that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that it should be possible for a driver to process what's happening and take appropriate action: i.e. swerve if it's safe, but not to swerve if it isn't safe. I fail to believe it's just luck that I've driven a high mileage in rural areas for 25 years (including the New Forest, which is full of ponies roaming freely) and only hit one small partridge. I've seen thousands of animals in the road (or more commonly, eyes reflecting in the verges and hedges at the side of the road), but only hit one.

Yes, st happens (ETA: see owl photo below! ), and I acknowledge that many people do everything right but still come unstuck, but I think there's a lot of room for improvement in many people's driving in rural areas, especially at night. I've seen other drivers hit animals whilst following them at night, and without exception they're driving on dipped beam, and by the way the car moves I can tell they've got one hand stuck at the top of the steering wheel. Asking for trouble - no vision, and no ability to control the car properly.

Edited by RobM77 on Wednesday 20th November 13:49

[mikeswagon]

red_slr said:

Not sure I trust that figure that's just under 200 a day.

I was thinking the same.



There wasn't a whole lot I could do here. If Bill Oddie's a PH'er….. sorry BIll.

[Ed/L152]

If you see a deer cross the road in front of you, brake hard in anticipation of the second one doing the same. Rarely are they alone.

[Ron99]

broadwood said:

Just clipped a deer last night! So close I saw the whites of its eyes. I stopped the car but naturally it had gone. Anyone else had a close encounter recently?

Yes, last week on the A10 near Downham Market a deer tried to dash across the road between me and the cars ahead of me.

The traffic was flowing at around 50-55mph at the time. No chance to brake but I managed to swerve and miss its head by barely an inch or two.
The weather was near freezing and damp and I can't help wonder whether the Michelin CrossClimates on the car helped avoid what might otherwise have been a slide or fishtail.

A couple of months ago, shortly after sunset, along the A1065 between Mundford and Brandon, I passed a truly massive stag on the grass verge (I had seen it from decent distance, slowed and moved to the other side of the road as there were no oncoming vehicles) it reared up like a horse and bolted back into the forest.

[LimaDelta]

mikeswagon said:

red_slr said:

Not sure I trust that figure that's just under 200 a day.

I was thinking the same.

As another poster already explained, given 327 billion miles are driven on uk roads each year, that is only one deer collision for every 4.5 million miles driven.

I also posted a study, I can link more if you are interested? Where are you getting your figures from or are they plucked from thin air?

[anonymous-user]

Dont like rolls said:

Greshamst said:

The highest speed appears achievable by a Citroen Xantia Activa, then second is a Nissan Quashqai...

Both beating Audi R8, Mclaren 675LT, Mercedes AMG GT S, Porsche Carrera 4s...

Bizarre

Physics I expect, a rapid change of direction and then you are fighting weight transfer.
I would think the Nissan has very good ESC, not a clue about the Citroen, thought they were just a 90's "Fleet box"

IRC, the Activa variant of the Xantia had active suspension/roll bars and cornered extremely flatly. Not sure how I could explain the Qashqai though!

[RobM77]

Ed/L152 said:

If you see a deer cross the road in front of you, brake hard in anticipation of the second one doing the same. Rarely are they alone.

I should have added this to my list above. I also find many deer wait in long grass at the edges of the road, especially muntjacs for obvious reasons - you can see their eyes reflect your headlights.

[anonymous-user]

The road where I had my incidents has a very long windy NSL stretch which is effectively a tunnel through trees, with only a bank at either side with trees and bushes separating road from farmers field. No chance to avoid if they decide to emerge as you round a bend.

Muntjac certainly aren't members of the Tufty Club!

[Jasey_]

mikeswagon said:

red_slr said:

Not sure I trust that figure that's just under 200 a day.

I was thinking the same.



There wasn't a whole lot I could do here. If Bill Oddie's a PH'er….. sorry BIll.

And sorry santa;

[RT7500]

I’ve seen half a dozen dead deers at the side of the road this week but there are prolific in this area.

Dread to think what damage one would cause to my old Clio

[mikeswagon]

LimaDelta said:

As another poster already explained, given 327 billion miles are driven on uk roads each year, that is only one deer collision for every 4.5 million miles driven.

I also posted a study, I can link more if you are interested? Where are you getting your figures from or are they plucked from thin air?

I'm not getting any figures, it's just a gut feel thing. Given that I live in a rural part of Scotland, I know there's plenty deer around, I'd expect to see more roadkill based on that.

Thanks for pointing out the total miles driven, although surely a large percentage of that is volume traffic on motorways, where deer collisions would be lower?

I will try and make time after work to get the kettle on and check out the study.