2 die in vehicle collision in Hokkaido after car hits deer

October and November are months when deer are looking for mates and mating. This is well known in Hokkaido. Why are drivers not driving slowly and with care? A poor deer which perhaps was very young was killed. And two men were killed.

Coming from Canada, I am very aware of the danger of hitting a deer, or even worse yet, a moose is when driving on roads that cut through their natural habitats. Heed the warnings of the road signs and drive with caution...always. Be aware of your surroundings.

S

We’re they wearing seat belts?

 Why are drivers not driving slowly and with care? A poor deer which perhaps was very young was killed. And two men were killed.

There are no indications here that either of the drivers were speeding or were careless. Deer are unpredictable and often dart out without looking both ways before crossing a road. It does not take excessive speed to hit and kill a deer. I wonder whether it was daylight or nighttime. Yesterday I saw three dead deer on the side of the road where I live in Kansas. All were in winding areas with narrow roads.

I find this incredible upsetting

I live in yamanakako mura, just today on my walk in saw a herd of 10 deer not 200 yards from my house. When they are moving, they only go forward, they never stop or backup if they sense trouble.

Around this time of year, the deer outnumber the people up here.

Locals know to keep constant lookout and drive slow but tourists are clueless.

Okay we have read about the dangers of driving and hitting a deer yes some people speed, yes the deer get spooked and run out into traffic but in this article NOWHERE did I read that signs are posted along the freeways where there are KNOWN deer crossings. Where I live I see them all the time crossing the exact same path so we asked the city to put signs up which they did. If they have statistics on "a total of 4,009 traffic accidents involving deer in Hokkaido last year, of which 40 percent occurred in October and November" one would think that those TWO MONTHS are active breeding times or migration patterns and that signs should be posted up to warn drivers and also make it public announcement on radio and TV. I don't know if this is happening but it was not printed here in the article!

I never understood why people would steer the car to the other side just to prevent from hitting a animal or when they hit one. Never veer off course in cases like these.

To prevent deaths, the government makes gun ownership almost impossible, which prevents hunting, which causes a deer infestation, which causes carnage on the roads, which causes deaths.

October and November are months when deer are looking for mates and mating. This is well known in Hokkaido. Why are drivers not driving slowly and with care? A poor deer which perhaps was very young was killed. And two men were killed.

Well said !!..

This is not uncommon in MANY places in the US.

There are quite a few deer here in North Florida. I once saw FOUR at one time, right next to a main highway, despite having a wire fence, they were standing right by the side of the road.

We have the same problems with deer in most area's of the UK. I myself was lucky when I hit a Fallow deer a couple of years ago as I was going quite slowly in the dark on a country lane. My car only received minor damage to its bumper which a local garage filled and resprayed for me.

A few years ago in the same place a man was killed as the deer jump over a hedge and smashed through the windscreen killing the driver and seriously hurting his wife in the passenger seat.

It difficult to obtain a licence to own a hunting rifle and also get permission from the land owner to hunt deer, so basically their number are increasing year on year.

In the old days metal fences were put up in areas known to have high traffic of animals, now I don't see any only on the expressways.

'Minivan' is just another type of flimsy tin can K-car. They offer you barely any more protection than riding a motorbike would in a crash.