DRIVERS are being warned to take extra care after the New Forest and parts of Hampshire were named as one of the worst areas for accidents involving deer.
Deer are responsible for as many as 74,000 collisions across the UK each year, resulting in several motorists being killed and hundreds of others suffering serious injuries. The research has been carried out by the Deer Initiative a group of organisations dedicated to ensuring a sustainable deer population.
It has revealed that three of the worst roads are the A31 at Cadnam, the A337 Lyndhurst-to-Brockenhurst route and the A35 west of Lyndhurst.
Deer are also responsible for a large number of collisions on routes in the Winchester, Southampton and Fareham areas, including the A34, M27 and M3.
Deer are often at their most active at dawn and dusk, which coincides with the morning and evening rush-hour. Between 15 and 20 people are injured in deer-related incidents in Hampshire every year.
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