Not to stop on the motorway?

[Infinity234]

I was driving on the motorway today with my 7yo son on our way to a play centre. I was in the left hand lane and the deer ran out from the left side. I didn’t really have chance to react but braked slightly and braced for impact. The deer hit the car and bounced back into the hard shoulder. I was coming off at the next junction anyway and was very shaky, my son was crying, I thought it too dangerous to shop on the hard shoulder.

As I was exiting the motorway, the passenger that was in the car that had been behind me seemed to be shaking her head at me. I drove to the nearest safe place to stop then phoned my husband in a state who told me
to inform the police, which I then did.

Have I done anything wrong here? I can’t stop thinking about it. I feel terrible for the deer, I’m a real animal lover, but also really shaken up at how serious it could have been. The damage is quite significant to the car.

If the vehicle was drivable, yes you made the right decision to continue.

Hope you and your son are ok. It sounds like a really terrifying experience. You did nothing wrong.

That sounds very upsetting and I don’t think you could or should have done anything differently. I’ve heard it’s more dangerous when people swerve to avoid them. You couldn’t have done anything if you’d stopped anyway. It’s not like a dog or cat that could you take to a vet!

I once ran over ducklings on the motorway.

I felt absolutely horrendous about it. But it was so busy and there was nowhere else to go but over them. Any evasive action would have caused an accident.

It sounds to me like you did everything right 💐

She was probably just shaking her head because it was sad, I wouldn’t assume it was criticism aimed at you

I was ready to say you are not being unreasonable but on reading your post I think having hit a deer is a perfectly reasonable reason for stopping on the hard shoulder.
you didn’t know what damage had been done, it would have been safer to stop, get everyonE out on the bank and call for recovery.

Had you pulled over you could have used the nearest emergency phone to alert the highways people on the cameras. Very imperative if it's a smart motorway so they can activate the signs to close the lanes. However stopping on the hard shoulder is not safe regardless so I'm of the opinion if you can limp off then to do so as long as the deer wasn't obstructing any live lanes. If you'd hit another car then obviously you wouldn't drive off for that but for an animal hmmmm hard to say.

Sounds like you did the right thing. Hitting a deer is a notifiable incident that you've reported to the police. So all good.

To add- if you are able to get off the motorway it's safer for recovery to attend to you if your car is unable to continue. Had you stopped on the motorway they'd have pulled you off anyway at the nearest junction to look at it.

https://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/safety/deer-collisions#:~:text=If%20you%20do%20hit%20a,can%20help%20the%20injured%20deer.

Advice on the AA website is that you shouldn't swerve or brake hard to try to avoid a deer. Sounds like you did everything you could have done.

It must have been very distressing for you and your son.

A large creature and at motorway speeds could have done significant damage to the car causing catastrophic failure further along.

THIS.
If the car was driveable I would have continued on to the next junction too.

Smart Motorway 😂😂 the biggest oxymoron out there.

Also, the fact there was a hard shoulder would suggest its not a "smart" motorway.

You were right in calling police. That is the law if you hit a wild animal to stop, when safe to do so, and call 999. Stopping on hard shoulder is for emergency only. Was this an emergency? Perhaps, perhaps not. But I would have done the same as you OP. Stopping on hard shoulder is so dangerous especially with your DS in car. You stopped as soon as it was safe so I think you did the right thing.

Motorways are fucking dangerous, I would not stop unless it was an emergency or my car wasn't moving.

You did the right thing, you are all safe.
Don’t overthink the woman shaking her head, she was possibly a bit shocked herself or there could be a hundred other reasons for it.

The deer was lying in the hard shoulder, the car was still driving as normal. Damage to bumper and wing. I phoned the police and let them know where on the motorway it was as it was about half a mile before the junction. My husband met me at the play centre to drive the car back home (still driveable) he came with my older son who was looking out for the deer on the hard shoulder and it had already been moved.

This is from the Highway Code.

"You MUST NOT stop on any carriageway, emergency area, hard shoulder, slip road, central reservation or verge except in an emergency, or when told to do so by the police, traffic officers, an emergency sign or by red flashing light signals."

Your car was still safe to drive, presumably. You had not hit another vehicle or a human being. I would not consider this an emergency. So not stopping on the hard shoulder was the right thing to do.

Sounds like you did everything right IMO, OP. You also have your child to think about - it's a lot more dangerous to be stopping on the side of the motorway with him in the car. Ignore the woman behind you and don't think about it for one second more.

YADNBU X

That sounds awful, but I would have done the same.

What were you supposed to stop for?
To approach the deer and do what? You’d be putting your life in danger.

I have been driving for 15 years and for the first few I avoided the motorway as I was scared of it and my anxiety was pretty bad. That scenario was never one of my worries though, you’d think all of the traffic noise would keep animals away! Poor thing 😣

I was worrying about whether it’d be classed as leaving the scene of an accident or something but as others have said, hard shoulders are not safe places to stop.

Tell me about it. Unfortunately from a work perspective I've seen the tragedy of no hard shoulder. The moment I learned what had happened will stay with me forever. I feel for all the families involved years on from it.

Is it? I wouldn’t have thought to call the police for hitting a deer. Highways agency maybe to get it moved.