Deer Aware
The Highways Agency are asking drivers to be aware of deer whilst driving. Partnered by The Deer Initiative they have come up with a new campaign DeerAware. Since september 2007 there have been over a 1000 incidents involving car and deer collisions on mototorway and A roads alone.
The Deer Initiative estimates that there are up to 74,000 deer-vehicle collisions every year in the UK – 80% in England. Most deer are killed, but thousands are left to die of injuries. Periods of highest risk are Autumn and Spring, and around dawn and dusk. A key to reducing these figures is to make drivers aware of the dangers.
Richmond Park hosts an event today to launch DeerAware. New publicity material for drivers will be available with hotspots shown.
Professor David Macdonald, Chair of the deer-vehicle awareness working group, said:
“It’s not just that the number of deer is increasing. We really need drivers to slow down and watch out, particularly when deer are more active - in autumn and spring, and at dawn and dusk. This autumn there is likely to be another rise in deer-vehicle collisions.”
“Today’s event brings together the media and other partners who we hope will use the DeerAware material to tackle the worst hotspots. As is so often the case in wildlife conservation, the campaign will be beneficial not only for deer but for people too – the quest for such win-win outcomes is at the heart of modern conservation.”
Tony Sangwine, senior environmental principal for the Highways Agency, said:
“The key is to be deer aware. Deer are highly unpredictable and can suddenly appear on the road – particularly at dusk and dawn, and in spring and autumn. We are encouraging local road safety partnerships and others to use the DeerAware material to target drivers in the highest risk areas.”
Our advice to drivers is:
- When you see deer warning signs, check your speed and stay alert.
- If your headlights are on, use full-beams when you can; but dip them if you see deer, as they may ‘freeze’.
- More deer may follow the first one you see.
- Be prepared to stop. Try not to suddenly swerve to avoid a deer. Hitting oncoming traffic or another obstacle could be even worse.
- If you have to stop, use your hazard warning lights.
- Do not approach an injured deer – it could be dangerous.
If you collide with a deer (or witness a collision) and someone may be injured, or the presence of vehicles/deer in the road are a risk to road safety, then you should treat this as an emergency and ring 999 for Police or Ambulance service immediately, or use an Emergency Roadside Telephone if there is one available.
To report any injured deer to the RSPCA please ring the 24-hour cruelty and advice line on 0300 1234 999.
Jane Rabagliati, Chairman of the Deer Initiative Partnership, said:
“This is the culmination of over 6 years of work under our Deer-Vehicle Collisions Project, led by Dr Jochen Langbein. The Deer Initiative Partners have given tremendous support – the Highways Agency continue to fund the project, and the RSPCA, the National Trust and the Forestry Commission among others have been crucial to the research and efforts to deal with the problem. Collisions with deer are on the increase, and we have identified some of the worst locations. DeerAware is about changing driver behaviour – if you slow down and watch out, you have a good chance of preventing a potentially fatal collision. ”
DeerAware is the culmination of several years of work investigating deer-vehicle collisions led by the Deer Initiative Partnership, and involving national and internationally recognised environmental, road safety, and animal welfare organisations, including the National Trust, RSPCA, Highways Agency, WildCRU at the University of Oxford, the RAC and the AA.
Driving Instructors will also be asked to inform students taking Driving Lessons to be aware of the dangers.
DSA Joins Youtube
The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) has launched its own video sharing channel on YouTube.
The move comes as more and more people choose to search for driving lessons and driving schools on line. The majority of people who wish to start driving are ‘internet savvy’ and will first look online via a search engine to find a local driving school.
The DSA also started a new twitter page recently to connect with drivers.
DSA will use youtube to publish official road safety videos. Youtube is the ultimate platform for video content with around a million videos viewed a day.
Nick Carter, DSA’s Director of Strategy & Performance, said: “Using YouTube will let DSA reach a wider audience than ever before – we want to talk to our audiences on the platforms we know they use.
“By putting our videos on YouTube, we’re catering for the growing number of people whose first choice to find information is to go online.”
Visitors to the DSA channel can embed video content directly into their own websites or blogs, put it into forums, share it by email, and even link to it through social networking sites such as Facebook.
The channel – youtube.com/dsagov – is being used to post road safety videos which offer advice to test candidates and other road users.
Content so far includes videos of the modular motorcycle test and the ‘Are you ready?’ films for car and motorcycle candidates. During testing, it was viewed more than 42,000 times by users.
There is also an example of the new case study questions being introduced into the theory test from 28 September.
‘Are you ready?’ is currently sent in DVD form to all candidates booking a theory test. The intention is that production of the DVD will be scaled down as more customers view it online. It will remain available on DVD on request.
With people ever more reliant on finding services on line we welcome this new idea and hope people who are learning to drive will benefit hugely