A pregnant mum flipped her van after hitting a deer on a road in Gloucestershire. Tyler O’Brien, 29, said she is “extremely grateful” that her unborn baby was not harmed during the collision in Lydbrook.
She was driving to work on January 25 2024 when a deer ran into her Peugeot Expert in Worrall Hill. It caused her vehicle to flip over twice while she was 13 weeks pregnant.
Tyler, from Coleford in the Forest of Dean, said: “Looking back I feel extremely grateful and lucky that both me and my baby didn’t come to harm. It was quite traumatic – but now I don’t take life for granted.”
Tyler’s van spun around after being hit before skidding on the mud on the outer track of the road. This caused it to flip over twice before dragging Tyler 50 metres down the road on her roof and landing in a ditch.
Luckily for Tyler, one of her colleagues, an off-duty fireman, was nearby at the time of the crash. He was able to help her climb through the windscreen before driving her to hospital where her and her baby were given the all clear.
According to Ian Harvey, Forestry England’s wildlife manager for west England, incidents of collisions with fallow deer are “highly under reported” but represent a significant danger on the roads. Ian said: “The impact of deer on vehicles nationally is quite a big issue, but probably under recorded because there’s not a requirement from your insurance company… they just lump it as animal related.”
Tyler, an account manager, still drives past the same spot everyday on her commute to work and says she still feels strange when seeing the spot where her vehicle flipped.
Tyler said: “I feel really stiff and frozen when I drive past it, but it does get easier, you just have to keep going. I was only going about 35mph, it just shows how dangerous it can be.”
The crash did not activate the van’s airbag, something Tyler is thankful for as she feared that they could have harmed her baby had they been set off. She said: “I think it would have been a different story if the airbags would have gone off as they would have gone straight into my tummy.”
The RSPCA said more than 74,000 collisions involving deer occur every year and “the majority of which sadly result in the deer’s death”. The charity said: “This is not only a significant animal welfare problem but it can also be extremely dangerous for drivers and passengers too. Always report any deer-vehicle collisions to the police and try to remember to record the incident at www.deeraware.com.”