Safe Speed Forums

Dip your headlights so as not to scare the animal and slow down.


As someone remarked to Wogan just now.. he saw an old "deer" ahead .. so he slowed and switched off his headlights so as not to frighten her. And waited till she crossed the road . dragging her wheely shopping trolley behind her


The witty aside apart .. good advice or just .. ummm... not addressing the real issue of training folk to drive properly on rural roads ..


and this includes police officers who claim to be imbued with super human powers as a result of "twaining and exempt-sham" and "should not be held to any account if they kill on that basis" (Actually the IPCC did agree with our complaints over those comments made by "police officers" posting to a different forum and we now have word that "guidelines on internet conduct" will be issued to serving and retired officers alike Sorry . we are quite pleased and want to shout about this update to a complaint we made 12 months ago.



But we've already discussed colliding with deer in great depth on this board..but it was a while ago. Is it me or is the advice just a bit "too vague"

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Yes, it was a near-miss that I saw between a car I was following and a deer. For me it was the perfect example of the concept that sometimes, there is simply nothing you can do (except perhaps not drive)! Sure, if you see a deer standing in the road at an obligingly convenient distance ahead, you can dip your lights, slow down, do whatever's necessary. Unfortunately, I don't think they do that very much! If, on the other hand, you're driving along and one leaps out of the undergrowth virtually on top of your bonnet (as with the example I saw), I can assure you that before the driver had even realised what was happening, let alone dipped lights, reduced speed, or whatever, the deer was gone into the undergrowth on the other side of the road. In this example, the animal's hind legs were just disappearing from view by the time his brake lights came on!

Take a look at:

viewtopic.php?f=36&t=14221&hilit=Deer+Hazard

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

Yep Interesting.

You can buy the deer whistles up here for about £8 each. If you know local deer routes then you can allow a more appropriate speed in those areas whether deer are visible or not.
Generally the deer are up in the hills until the autumn when the rutting season starts and deer gather, plus they come down into the valleys for the better grass and less covered in snow.

I tend to find that people add lights on their cars / 4x4 /lorries and that helps identify any potential roadside hazards that 'bit' sooner.
Lorries of course have added height as do 4x4's (etc) which help too.
I haven't used a whistle but have only ever had one deer leap directly in front of the car so whether it justifies it I am not absolutely convinced. However extra lights would I think be a good idea, you just have to be ready when the light reduces back to the much dimmer standard headlight.
Best solution is anticipation, observation, vigilant and awareness etc ... and of course go at the most appropriate speed.
Can you ever be prepared for everything, especially deer, no, but we just have to do our very best.
If anyone had night vision for the road ahead then this might help us see the unseen but not through a hedge of course !

I wonder : if we ALL reported deer location (precisely to Sat nav grid ref) can a database be set up through the satnav's for deer alerts. Deer do tend to the same routes ?

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Saw a TV program a while back ... can't remember too much about it though .. was about a spot with high incidence of deer strikes and how whoever was trying to improve the problem went about it. This was a spot where deer regularly crossed the road, they built an underpass with fencing to try to point the deer in the direction of underpass and cleared all vegitation back from the side of the road for about 10 feet, think there was some other measures taken (believe they tried whistles attached to vehicles) ... but It's been a pretty brain intensive day and the poor thing needs a rest. Mrs Zippo saw it too I'll ask if she can remember a bit more.

There are some light up signs I know of on the A82, one at Glencoe ski centre going south, one at Kingshouse hotel going north, one at Bridge of Orchy going north (I think), don't know if they do any good though. So far since the start of September I've seen 4 dead deer at side of road .. no use to me I'm a veggie

Yup I know well that deer can and do appear from nowhere, happened to me twice, not hit one yet though .. touch wood! Vigilance isn't enough to guarantee avoiding them, it's one of those "problems of reasonable existence".

Clearing vegitation at roadsides might help to dimish the "appear from nowhere" type incidents, though probably require to be done over huge number of miles and therefore 'orribly expensive.

If I see deer at the roadside and there are other vehicles in sight I put my hazards on for a few seconds, don't know if it does any good or if folks just think I'm a looney .. but I do it anyway, can't see it doing any harm?

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Certainly cleared roadside vegetation aids last minute deer road side vision and would help.

Night driving road position helps vision by taking an 'out to center' position so when the unexpected start to, or does just appear, then those extra feet can help. (Obviously position depends on other traffic and road layout and weather).

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I almost always, with all wild animals on the road aim to look to drive behind them.

When training horses if you aim to go behind they go 'forward', this is part of the fight, flight instinct so aiming to go 'behind' and they are more likely to go 'forwards'. However watch out for the pack mentality too, as they might prefer to stay with fellow (fallows ! sorry!) deer and go back to them, so ensuring where others are located, is very important. Obviously slowing and considering is far better if early notification is feasible.
All early deer / sheep (etc) observation is helpful even those that you see in adjacent land, near the road, that are picked up in the headlights, by eye 'lights' . If there is one then there are likely to be more, in that whole 'stretch of road' location.

A few years back they upgraded and straightened the main road, which cut through a small 'pond' and during the first few months especially, it was regular to see deer drinking, and great care was indeed. They are such beautiful creatures.

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Safe Speed for Intelligent Road Safety through proper research, experience & guidance.

and to repeat the two links that are useful from the previous forum Deer Hazard Topic:

BBC
[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/southwest/series6/deer_crossing.shtml]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/southwes ... sing.shtml[/url]

and Dft
http://www.highways.gov.uk/knowledge/24834.aspx

Deer Collisions
at http://www.deercollisions.co.uk/
and a most interesting report here
http://www.deercollisions.co.uk/web-content/ftp/mit_review.doc
(shows cut verges might increase roadside grazing but does give drivers better visibility)
located on webpage here
http://www.deercollisions.co.uk/web-content/pages/avoid.html

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Safe Speed for Intelligent Road Safety through proper research, experience & guidance.