Phoenix Park - Deer

theKillerBite

Why don't the deers in the park have reflective collars? The lamps provided are not adequate for safe night time walking never mind keeping the Deers from the 10 million cars that use the park each year.It's nuts,people out walking their dogs in the park put lights on them but the Opw allow the deers to be knocked down on a daily basis...

foggy_lad

theKillerBite wrote: »

Why don't the deers in the park have reflective collars? The lamps provided are not adequate for safe night time walking never mind keeping the Deers from the 10 million cars that use the park each year.It's nuts,people out walking their dogs in the park put lights on them but the Opw allow the deers to be knocked down on a daily basis...

There are signs up all lover the park so why can't drivers drive more carefully and slowly to avoid hitting deer or anything else?

ted1

theKillerBite wrote: »

Why don't the deers in the park have reflective collars? The lamps provided are not adequate for safe night time walking never mind keeping the Deers from the 10 million cars that use the park each year.It's nuts,people out walking their dogs in the park put lights on them but the Opw allow the deers to be knocked down on a daily basis...

Slow down. Be alert, be aware. It's their world and your just visiting it.

corktina

Nazi hat on...plural is Deer... :-)

beauf

Maybe he meant old dears....

Lots of Ninja walkers, runners and dogs often on the bike path at night. If you cant train them to be visible. I think training deer to put on high viz collars is quite ambitious.

beauf

beauf wrote: »

Maybe he meant old dears....

Lots of Ninja walkers, runners and dogs often on the bike path at night. If you cant train them to be visible. I think training deer to put on high viz collars is quite ambitious.

When they had cattle in the park there used to be cattle grids at every gate.

No Pants

theKillerBite wrote: »

reflective collars

What would they be reflecting?

Alun

No Pants wrote: »

What would they be reflecting?

Car headlights of course.

corktina

What? you expect us to have the lights on as well as painting the deer dayglo.....

AngryLips

theKillerBite wrote: »

....the Opw allow the deers to be knocked down on a daily basis...

They're being knocked down on a daily basis?

AlekSmart

beauf wrote: »

Maybe he meant old dears....

Lots of Ninja walkers, runners and dogs often on the bike path at night. If you cant train them to be visible. I think training deer to put on high viz collars is quite ambitious.

It never ceases to amaze me just how many Cyclists will don Black Coats,Trousers,Hats,Boots and Gloves then wobble off on a BLACK bicycle,fully expecting to arrive-alive at some exotic destination.....Incredible thoroughness is often displayed to ensure that not a sniff on any bright colour is dispayed to other road-users....

I think C.Darwin may well have written a chapter about this practice in the animal kingdom,but the relevant species became extinct before publication and Charles decided not to bother with it.....:rolleyes:

GTE

theKillerBite wrote: »

.It's nuts,people out walking their dogs in the park put lights on them but the Opw allow the deers to be knocked down on a daily basis...

Source?

monument

AlekSmart wrote: »

It never ceases to amaze me just how many Cyclists will don Black Coats,Trousers,Hats,Boots and Gloves then wobble off on a BLACK bicycle,fully expecting to arrive-alive at some exotic destination.....Incredible thoroughness is often displayed to ensure that not a sniff on any bright colour is dispayed to other road-users....

I think C.Darwin may well have written a chapter about this practice in the animal kingdom,but the relevant species became extinct before publication and Charles decided not to bother with it.....:rolleyes:

Remain on topic -- cyclists are not the topic

beauf

Doe!

Mikros

theKillerBite wrote: »

Why don't the deers in the park have reflective collars? The lamps provided are not adequate for safe night time walking never mind keeping the Deers from the 10 million cars that use the park each year.It's nuts,people out walking their dogs in the park put lights on them but the Opw allow the deers to be knocked down on a daily basis...

The deer are a well signed and known hazard in the park. There is a responsibility on the driver to adjust their speed accordingly.

Reflective material on a collar would quickly wear off or become dirty. Chasing down 500 odd deer regularly to change collars isn't really practical. These are wild animals with their own rights to the park established over many hundreds of years.

The park (even if it used as such) isn't a main road into the city.

dodderangler

What are you doing in the park at night anyway?
Plenty of other ways about the city than going into the park.

beauf

The park has something like a 3rd of the traffic volume of the m50 bridge.

Problem with deer is they don't fallow signs....

No Pants

Alun wrote: »

Car headlights of course.

Well, here's an idea: maybe the car drivers could use those headlights to watch where they're going. Given enough practice and if they look really carefully, they might be able to spot the ruddy great dear in their path.

Just an idea. It's crazy, but it might work.

beauf

Deer don't stand in the road. They stand in the dark out of the light and make last minute dash and they are very fast. Which is way you shouldn't go fast in the park especially at night. Often where you see one another or the whole herd will follow immediately after.

At nighttime i often choose to avoid the park to avoid the deer.

Alun

No Pants wrote: »

Well, here's an idea: maybe the car drivers could use those headlights to watch where they're going. Given enough practice and if they look really carefully, they might be able to spot the ruddy great dear in their path.

Just an idea. It's crazy, but it might work.

Deer have a nasty habit of running out across roads from amongst undergrowth, where they blend in quite well, so they're not quite as visible as you seem to think. They don't tend to stand in the middle of the road either.

Anyway, it's an idea not without precedent. Some of the wild ponies in areas of the UK, like Dartmoor and the New Forest have reflective neck bands on.

beauf

Reflective strips only work if the light hits them. The deer stay outside the lights. You cant even see them when your on the cycle path. The scare the heck out of you standing in the dark.

Buffman

OP, if you use your full beam headlights where appropriate and stick to the 50 limit the risk of you knocking down a deer would be minimised.

beauf wrote: »

Problem with deer is they don't fallow signs....

Ye, this thread reminded me of this.:D (Woman rings radio station complaining about authorities placing 'deer crossings' on busy roads and causing accidents)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI8UPHMzZm8

ProudDUB

I'm with the OP on this one. Deer can move incredibly quickly. The younger ones are quite skittish, they aren't used to cars, and they don't have the well tuned sense of self preservation that the older ones have. They can appear out of no where, no matter how slowly or carefully you are driving.

I used to live beside a nature reserve park with a sizable deer population. It was common for deer to wander off campus & onto a nearby road. The road was well lit and well sign posted about the deer hazard. Even so, my neighbours and I had the bejebus scared out of us on more than one occasion, by deer appearing out of no where, in front of our cars. More than one went to meet his maker on that road. Why run that risk in the PP? What's the harm in putting a deer friendly collar on them?

kerry4sam

theKillerBite wrote: »

Why don't the deers in the park have reflective collars? The lamps provided are not adequate for safe night time walking never mind keeping the Deers from the 10 million cars that use the park each year.It's nuts,people out walking their dogs in the park put lights on them but the Opw allow the deers to be knocked down on a daily basis...

Is this seriously the situation or an exaggeration of great magnitude thus defaming the wonderful work of the OPW?

beauf

ProudDUB wrote: »

...What's the harm in putting a deer friendly collar on them?

If the deer hide outside the fall of the lights. (Which is why they surprise you) light isn't going to hit their collar. Of course they can simply trial it for a month and see does it reduce the accidents. Once article I read that about 10 deer are killed each year. considering its something like 9 million car journeys a year that doesn't seem a high number.

I saw a deer knocked down recently. But it was on a clear morning, with no trees around. Great vision in all direction. I assume the deer came out the drivers blind spot.

foggy_lad

The deer don't just step out from places where drivers can see them whether they wear reflective collars or even high vis jackets, they jump out from ditches and cant usually be seen till they are in front of the vehicle so the only way to minimize danger to the road users is for drivers to take more care and slow down to take account of the added danger!

I am of an age that I can remember when the only fences on the Curragh were along a few short stretches of the old N7, sheep wandered the plain and were sometimes hit by trucks in the heavy fog that often covers the area but most car drivers were aware and competent enough to drive safely

http://www.rulesoftheroad.ie/rules-of-the-road-eng.pdf

A vehicle must not be driven at a speed exceeding that which will enable its
driver to bring it to a halt within a distance the driver can see to be clear.

markpb

beauf wrote: »

I saw a deer knocked down recently. But it was on a clear morning, with no trees around. Great vision in all direction. I assume the deer came out the drivers blind spot.

The blind spot that is over your left and right shoulders? It just have been running at full speed to get into their blind spot and manage to crash into the car :-)

No Pants

beauf wrote: »

I saw a deer knocked down recently. But it was on a clear morning, with no trees around. Great vision in all direction. I assume the deer came out the drivers blind spot.

Could have been under the car, hanging on to the axles until the last minute.

beauf

markpb wrote: »

The blind spot that is over your left and right shoulders? It just have been running at full speed to get into their blind spot and manage to crash into the car :-)

i have seen them do this. Start running from behind you then dive across last minute. Outside the ordnance survey building about 8am in daylight. I was admiring the view when i caught a flicker of movement in my peripheral vision.

though on the other road they maybe above or below you the road runs along a hillside.

beauf

No Pants wrote: »

Could have been under the car, hanging on to the axles until the last minute.

that would be the triumph stag...rare beast

theKillerBite

Buffman wrote: »

OP, if you use your full beam headlights where appropriate and stick to the 50 limit the risk of you knocking down a deer would be minimised.

You cannot use your full beams in the Park due to oncoming traffic. The dips don't shine enough light onto the grass area where they accumulate. While I stick to the limit, it dosn't overcome the problem that you can barely see the animals.

Collars = less deaths and less collisions

beauf

theKillerBite wrote: »

You cannot use your full beams in the Park due to oncoming traffic. The dips don't shine enough light onto the grass area where they accumulate....

If the lights won't hit them then the collars won't reflect. Seems a bit of a flaw in the logic.

ballooba

Its a deer park, has been for hundreds of years. Technically the deer own the park.

Cookie_Monster

theKillerBite wrote: »

Collars = less deaths and less collisions

banning through traffic would be far cheaper and far easier, plus it would benefit all park users by vastly reducing traffic and creating a nicer enviroment, not just the deer.

Reflective collars for wildlife has to be one of the most ridiculous suggestion I've ever heard for road safety. You find all sorts of wildlife, farm animals and domestic animals (never mind people) all over the roads down the country, should we be collaring and tagging them as well? Or is it just the park so you can continue to speed along the nice little shortcut you have?

Spook_ie

I hit a deer there once or technicaly I should say a deer hit me since it ran into the side of the car, no I didn't see it either until it dented the door

hardCopy

Spook_ie wrote: »

I hit a deer there once or technicaly I should say a deer hit me since it ran into the side of the car, no I didn't see it either until it dented the door

We need Hi-Viz cars in the park so the deer can see them.

beauf

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

banning through traffic would be far cheaper and far easier, plus it would benefit all park users by vastly reducing traffic and creating a nicer enviroment, not just the deer...

They'e done it before. You'd noticed if you cycle through it as a commuter, that less people were using the closed sections.

Spook_ie

hardCopy wrote: »

We need Hi-Viz cars in the park so the deer can see them.

Nah probably more effective to have noisier cars.

monument

beauf wrote: »

They'e done it before. You'd noticed if you cycle through it as a commuter, that less people were using the closed sections.

It was a silly section to start with, but at weekends it was always as busy or busier than before the closures (minus car traffic).

beauf

I'll agree to disagree. We used to be up there a lot. Seemed quieter to us. Definately didn't meet as many walking and running.

dodderangler

Spook_ie wrote: »

Nah probably more effective to have noisier cars.

Agreed. Deer like most animals are colourblind.
So op you were about to tell us all your plan for putting hi-viz colors on roughly 2-300 fallow deer.
I'm intrigued

No Pants

Spook_ie wrote: »

Nah probably more effective to have noisier cars.

Maybe sirens could be fitted.

beauf

How about one of these.
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/06/19/the-deer-camp-truck-sightseeing-in-style/

monument

Right, this is going nowhere useful.

If you think there's a good reason to reopen the thread please PM me.