Forest is deer accident blackspot

One of the main roads through Thetford Forest is one of the worst blackspots in the country for collisions involving deer, a new survey has revealed.The AA has produced startling results showing 150 people are killed or injured every year across the UK in crashes with the animals.

One of the main roads through Thetford Forest is one of the worst blackspots in the country for collisions involving deer, a new survey has revealed.

The AA has produced startling results showing 150 people are killed or injured every year across the UK in crashes with the animals.

A total of £11m damage is caused to vehicles and 40,000-75,000 deer are killed.

The A134 through Thetford Forest is one of the worst blackspots and drivers have been urged not to ignore deer warning signs.

May is the month when young deer leave their breeding areas and reported incidents 25 pc higher than other peaks during the year.

“Drivers who find a deer caught in their headlights face an instant and impossible dilemma: do they swerve and risk a more serious crash, or do they suffer the trauma of killing a deer and severely damage their cars?” said Andrew Howard, the AA's head of road safety.

"There's a huge band that runs across basically from The Wash to the Isle of Wight where they're most common and when talking about Suffolk, the Thetford Forest area, the area that runs south-east from there is a particularly highly dense area against the rest of Britain.”

Mr Howard added: “Drivers' best bet is to heed the warning signs, put up where accidents have happened or animals are known to cross, and to always drive at a speed that gives you time to react to what may suddenly appear in the road.”