Nottinghamshire Police issue safety warning for motorists to avoid deer collisions
Motorists in rural Nottinghamshire are being urged to take extra care on the roads to help avoid collisions with deer.
Nottinghamshire Police has provided the public with advice on what to do if a vehicle is involved in a collision with a deer to further protect wildlife, themselves, and other road users.
The British Deer Society estimates that more than 40,000 deer are killed or injured on UK roads each year, adding that collisions often peak in May as spring is the time when the first new young of the year tend to appear.
Nottinghamshire Police has a team of six deer officers who volunteer their time across the county alongside specialist armed response officers to attend collisions with vehicles.
What to do if you encounter deer on the road:
If you come across deer while driving:
•Don’t veer for deer – taking evasive action may put you or other road users at increased risk of swerving into oncoming traffic or unstable off-road surfaces
If a deer is hit while driving:
•Park your car as safely as possible
•Put your hazard lights on
•If people are injured, call an ambulance
•Call the police
Deer advice for drivers:
•Look out for deer warning road signs and adjust your driving accordingly
•Deer are more visible in May and between October and December, however, the animals are around throughout the year
•Seen one deer? Then look out for another. There is an increased likelihood of multiple deer crossing a road after the first
•The highest risk times are from sunset to midnight and the hours shortly before and after sunrise
•Use your headlights — if you notice a deer in the road, dim your headlights as a full beam may startle the deer and cause them to ‘freeze’ rather than leave the road
If you come across an injured deer at the roadside:
•Pull over at a safe place, turn on your hazard lights, and then call the police
•Provide a precise location to the police. We recommend using the What3words app
•Specialist deer officers will respond and deal with the incident appropriately
•Do not try to assist or move the deer as this can put you in danger of injury and is likely to cause additional stress to the animal
Inspector Georgie Newton, Nottinghamshire Police’s deer officers' team lead, said: “Hitting a deer can be a distressing, expensive, and sometimes dangerous situation for motorists.
“Deer are large and heavy animals that can cause considerable injuries to people, damage to vehicles, and even more serious collisions when drivers swerve to avoid them.
“Our deer officers have encountered incidents where motorists don’t call the police when they hit a deer, leaving a wounded animal either in the road or running around in distress — which not only allows needless suffering but poses a serious danger to other road users.
“They can attend up to 200 calls each year and are specially trained to respond to these incidents and humanely despatch deer that have suffered injuries too severe to enable a successful release back into the wild.
“With deer season now among us, at certain times deer will leave their young unattended to survive on their own, however, as they have not learnt to avoid the roads, this can cause an increase in collisions.
“It is an unfortunate reality that collisions will occur when wild animals are forced to cross busy roads, however, there are steps motorists can take to minimise the risk to the deer, themselves, and other road users.
“If you are driving on country roads, please adjust your speed accordingly and consider the possibility that multiple deer could emerge from the roadside. This is particularly prevalent early in the morning or late at night.
“It is really important that members of the public avoid approaching injured deer as this may cause them to flee and increases the risk of harm to people or another collision.
“Although we can’t avoid all collisions, we are keen to do all we can to safeguard deer, reduce suffering, and prevent more serious crashes that may cause death or serious injury on our roads.”
