Police have urged all drivers to be vigilant while driving during the hours of darkness, after a police vehicle collided with a deer on the Rapahoe straight of State Highway 6 last Sunday night.
Last week a deer was spotted on SH7 at Kaiata, by the school.
Panelbeaters Mark Jones Collision Repairs have had three vehicles in the panel shop in recent weeks which have run into deer on the roads.
Owner Adam Cassidy said he had heard of a lot more cases than just the ones they had seen.
Graeme Mac Panelbeating owner Graeme Macilquham said they also had three vehicles damaged in collisions with deer over the past six weeks.
"One happened out Marsden Rd, another in Charleston and there was one in Paroa."
Police urged caution on all roads, not just remote areas.
"The West Coast is almost fully rural," Senior Sergeant Brent Cook, of Greymouth police, said yesterday.
"There are a lot of deer and other animals in the bush here, and that includes the bush coming out on to the road."
Animals could often be found roaming out of the bush between Runanga, Coal Creek and Greymouth, so motorists should be wary when driving in that area also.
But the message local police have for Coast motorists as a whole is to keep the possibility of there being deer on the road in mind when driving anywhere on the West Coast — both in rural and urban areas.
— Greymouth Star
