Deadly menace of rural boy racers
The campaign to raise awareness of the risks of driving too fast on rural roads won’t help the many animals killed by young male drivers, who apparently consider it a sport.
I looked forward to seeing badgers, deer and foxes when I moved from london to rural Bedfordshire, but I hadn’t realised they would all be dead on the roads. one morning, in torrential rain on a country road, I rounded a corner to see a baby deer, legs splayed, sitting in the middle of the road. The fawn was moving her head and I guessed she had been stunned by a passing car going at speed (I have too often pulled dead deer off the roads near my home by their hooves).
I got out and knelt down by her. She was alert, no blood, legs scrabbling but in shock. I tried to push her gently into the bushes but she was surprisingly heavy, so I stood up and waved my arms to stop the traffic hurtling towards us, to ask for help. I knew if I didn’t get her out of the road soon, she would be driven at by the boy racers. although some drivers slowed down, it was merely to shout abuse. as they sped off, they showered me and the fawn with deluges of rainwater. Some drivers were laughing, some clearly angry at being held up. I finally pushed her off the road and she found her legs and ran off into the woods.
It is almost always young men who drive at breakneck speed on country roads. I have seen cars accelerate even faster having targeted a muntjac, a hedgehog or a pheasant in the road. a safety campaign will not, alas, save the thousands of animals killed every day on rural roads by young male motorists who get their kicks from driving recklessly and aiming their killing machines at helpless animals for sport.
Miss JEANNIE SLOMAN, Woburn, Beds.