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admin
Sun Dec 06, 2009 12:13 pm

Deer-Vehicle Collisions on local roads
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Local people will be well aware of the danger of colliding with deer on local roads.

This is a big problem, at a number of different levels. 

Firstly it is a serious road safety issue. About 12 people are killed annually in the UK in vehicle-deer collisions. Secondly it is distressing for deer which are struck and not immediately killed, and for the occupants of the vehicles involved.
 
The deer have been here - on the National Trust Ashridge estate, which extends now to the edge of Pitstone and Ivinghoe. -- since the 1500s, when this was royal hunting land. They have no predators and their population is controlled by trained marksmen culling deer to achieve the correct population balance. 

The only other control, and one nobody wants, is on the roads, with several dozen deer killed in accidents throughout the estate every year.

In recent months (Nov and Dec 2009) 2 deer at least have been killed around the villages -  on the B488 near the Silver Birch café, and on Northfield road just after the roundabout on the way to Tring Station. We are not aware of which vehicles were involved, and possible injuries and damage sustained.

There has been work to research the problem, and possible mitigation measures have been tested – read about the National Deer-Vehicle Collisions Projecton www.deercollisions.co.uk. Ashridge has been involved in this.

However measures taken, which include flashing lights activated by crossing deer, and measures to deter the deer from crossing, have not proved very successful. (Cutting back bushes and scrub at the sides of roads has some promise, to improve visibility.) 

The best solution still seems to be for drivers to reduce their speed. And be aware that the deer could dart out from anywhere, at any time of day.

The deer problem is not going to go away. They will continue to be abundant  locally (and the sight of them in the woods brings pleasure to many), and technology to control them, and make roads safer, may not work.

The best you can do to stay safe is be very aware - particularly at night - and expect the unexpected. And slow down if you can. 

Problem areas are the whole of Northfield Rd, between Tring Station and the roundabout at the top of Castlemead on the B488 (particularly the "corridor" with dense tree cover on both sides just after the roundabout) . Then much of Vicarage Rd, Pitstone.
And the B488 itself, from the roundabout all the way to the Windmill car park. And anywhere in Ashridge.