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news
Deer in Bushy Park (copyright Simon MacMichael).JPGNew Forest cyclist hospitalised after crash with three deer
A cyclist in the New Forest was taken to hospital last month after a crash involving three deer in the National Park.
Iain Gee says he had no chance to stop when he saw the animals’ eyes lit up ahead of him as he rode home at around 9.30pm on the evening of 31 March, reports the Advertiser & Times.
The newspaper says that he was riding home from Sway train station after catching a train from London, and travelling at around 15mph when he spotted the animals.
“I literally saw their eyes lit up and the next I was on them, there was no time to stop,” he said.
“They hit me and I was off, splat on the road. My front wheel was buckled, and I was left with a bleeding head and my ribs were in terrible pain.
“The deer ran off unhurt. It was such a shock I didn’t really know what had happened – I just remember seeing the hindquarters of one right by my front wheel.”
Mr Gee, who sustained cracked ribs and bruising as a result of the crash, said that two men in a car stopped to assists him and called 999.
“I was in such shock I didn’t get their names, but I’d like to thank them as they were so good to me. They stayed with me until my partner Gail came and the police turned up.
“The police said there was a long wait for ambulances, so one of the chaps drove me home while the other one helped Gail walk back to our house nearby with the bike.”
He was treated at Southampton General Hospital. “They couldn’t do much for me apart from dose me up with painkillers,” he said.
The former Southwest Trains employee said: “I blame the railway company because the train was 40 minutes late. If it had been on time, I would probably have never even seen any deer.
“The chances of me being hit by a deer are probably one in a billion chance. I just got in their way, and they weren’t stopping.”
And in something that will resonate among any of us who have forked out decent money for cycle clothing, he added: “My only consolation is that I was wearing a decent jacket which didn’t get damaged at all.”
Over the years, we’ve reported on a number of incidents here on road.cc in which cyclists have come a cropper due to deer on the road, sometimes suddenly jumping out in front of them.
Last year, we reported how a man was fined after he lost control of his dog in southwest London’s Bushy Park and it caused deer to stampede.
> Owner fined after dog sparks deer stampede in which 10-year-old cycling with family was injured
As a result, a 10-year-old cycling with his family sustaining a broken rib and head injury when the herd knocked him over.
> Watch out for that deer/kangaroo/ostrich/skunk… and more – 11 of the best animal v cyclist videos
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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26 comments
I've encountered deer whist usually descending - carefully - through the Ashdown Forest. Really worth avoiding if you can, they are about 60kg of pure muscle....
Really? Hmm - watts per kilo?
The way the story is written suggests the deer were stationary on the road, and the cyclist crashed into them, in which case I would say the cyclist is entirely at fault - you should cycle at a speed which allows you to stop well within the distance you can see to be clear (which will depend on lighting etc.).
That said, I wouldn't be suprised if that's not quite the full story. In my experience deer very rarely remain stationary and deer at the side of the road do sometimes act unpredictably, including leaping out in front of you, contrary to what we see as common sense. (The theory is that this behaviour makes sense in nature: when a deer spots a predator coming towards it, if the deer turns and runs directly away from the predator, then the predator is at the advantage because the predator just has to carry on straight forwards while the deer has to turn around and accelerate from stationary. If the deer instead runs perpendicular to the predator's line of travel then the predator has to turn sharply to chase after the deer, giving the deer a greater chance of escape. The deer doesn't realise that the cyclist is not a predator and has no desire to intercept it!)
“I was in such shock I didn’t get their names..."
Bambi, Rudolph and the one from Babycham 😉
Olive.
Of course if the cyclist had hit a pedestrian and then said "I literally saw their eyes lit up and the next I was on them, there was no time to stop" then that would still be the fault of a late running train because its NEVER the cyclists fault
I'd disagree: seems that cyclists tend to be held to a much higher standard than other road users. Far more likely that a motorist would be let off after playing that excuse if they ran into a pedestrian, whereas a cyclist would be lynched...
You appear to be suggesting that only cyclists do that, which is blatantly false.
With 4 whole posts here so far I would venture that this is trolling rather than a useful contribution to the topic. Is that you again, Nigel?
I only have 4 posts (5 now lol) because I dont spend all my time on line. I have a life in the real world. For example, last week I enjoyed cycling along the banks of the Danube in Budapest. Sadly that left me with very little time to troll anyone. With almost 10,000 posts how do you find time to actually ride a bike?
Did someone delete half of Simon e 's posts ?
Would not posts per day be a relevant measure?
I hardly think 20 -30 mins a day on a cycling site is much where it is people's main interest and it is important to get a wide range of experiences and knowledge.
I think my post count is accurate, unlike their comment.
Not that it matters. I don't give a fig about assumptions somone has about me based on my posting tally - currently showing 4775. IIRC I joined in early 2009 (that's an average of 1 post per day) and try to make most of my posts constructive. I admit that I've failed to do that occasionally but I'm only human.
I do spend quite a bit of time here some days and barely a glance at the homepage other days but there's an entire non-cycling internet out there that I generally ignore.
Perhaps Older and sadder could try posting some constructive comments instead of what appear to be anti-cyclists jibes on a cycling website (widely considered as TROLLING).
Often it is the flash of reflection in dogs eyes that alert me to the presence of the dog walker. So I come off the gas and make sure I'm covering the brakes.
Does mean I slow for bunny rabbits too.
"I brake for squirrels"?
All deer should be issued with hi-vis and lights
Especially during the winter months.
Bells aswell 👍🏻👍🏻good call!
"I blame the railway company because the train was 40 minutes late. If it had been on time, I would probably have never even seen any deer."
Impeccable logic.
Perhaps he should have gone to Specsavers (and bought himself a decent front light) so he could see where he was going.
Think of the carnage that could have resulted if the train had been 43 minutes late...
Also, former employee of the train company whose train was late...
And at only 25 minutes late he would have been hit by the drunk and drugged driver who just had to look at their new message on their smartphone.
Also, something doesn't quite add up about
and then
Did they spot him coming and deliberately decide to charge at him for a laugh?
Hmm...could be onto something. I've had a few hard stares from them lately. There are a growing number of deer in the UK. I'm wondering if this is our "Triffids" / "The Kraken Wakes" moment...?
Things like that only "don't quite add up" if you have never spoken to an actual human being trying to describe something.
Even the deer were running across the road (highly likely given my experience with them locally), if one turned to look and their eyes lit up then they were ahead of him. He doesn't ever state whether he thought they were stationary or not.
Every encounter I have had with deer while driving has involved them running across the road right in front of my car. The last one was very very close to the bonnet ... I didn't hit it, but it gave me (and the deer presumably) quite a scare. They move quickly and unpredictably and, in the dark, can suddenly appear on the road as if out of nowhere.
Saying that you should ride at speed where you can stop in the space you can see to be clear is pointless when the space is suddenly and unexpectedly filled with 60KG+ of pure muscle and energy.
it also shows how much hot air the New Forest protestor spout when then go on about the danger cyclists pose to deer.
Ah , the driver's "excuse me".
So ... you have never been driving down a country lane at night, and have a deer emerge from the bushes at the side of the road and run straight across the front of your bonnet?
Around here some of them seem to do it for sport.
You've done a better job of missing the point than they did of missing the deer.
Thanks ... I do my best.