Two teenage girls were killed after hitting a deer while driving along a road in Hertfordshire.
18-year-old driver Daniela Ruggiero was driving with an unnamed 17-year-old passenger in tow when her Citroen C1 collided with a deer. Miss Ruggiero swerved in an attempt to avoid the animal, causing her to lose control and veer across the road. The car then struck a Volvo V40 before bursting into flames.
The driver of the Volvo tried desperately to free the girls from the inferno, sustaining injuries he was later treated for in hospital. Sadly, there was nothing he could do. Emergency services teams later pronounced the two girls dead at the scene.
Reports say the accident occurred on the northbound stretch of the A10 near Ware in Hertfordshire, after which the road was closed for more than five hours.
Police have yet to name the second passenger because not all relatives have been informed of the accident.
Miss Ruggiero had been training to be a dance teacher at a college in Royston, Hertfordshire. Earlier this year she had tweeted photos of herself and her new car, having recently passed her test.
“RIP to my beautiful talented best friend who will be missed by so many,” friend Bethany Trower said on Twitter.
It may seem like a freak accident, but an estimated 74,000 accidents involving deer happen every year, resulting in several deaths and more than 450 injuries. October and November see the most accidents due to the rutting season.
A number of systems have been designed to try and counter wildlife jumping out into traffic including DeerDeter, a system that uses sound and strobe lighting to trick animals into thinking a predator is nearby when cars approach.
During testing in America and Europe, the DeerDeter system reportedly decreased animal/vehicle collisions between 70 and 100 per cent. A number of areas in the UK have seen DeerDeter deployed.
Source: Daily Mail
Image: INS/Hertfordshire Police
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