Bicyclist suffers minor injuries after colliding with deer
Bicyclists have enough to worry about when going down hills at high rates of speed.
Cars, sticks in the road, tight turns and many other factors can turn a leisurely bike ride into dangerous proposition at times.
One man in Ann Arbor Township dealt with a whole different animal Thursday afternoon.
A man was sent to the University of Michigan Hospital with minor injuries after he and his bike collided with a deer at about 2 p.m. Thursday near the intersection of Newport Road and Lowell Road, according to Ann Arbor Township Fire Department Captain Doug Eder.
Eder said the man was heading down a hill on Newport Road when the deer simply crossed in front of him, giving him nowhere else to go.
As bizarre as the accident sounds, Eder said it’s not the first time he’s seen it happen.
“I bet you (it happens) a couple times a year throughout the county, maybe more in the rural areas,” Eder said.
The man was in stable condition when officers arrived, and Huron Valley Ambulance personnel transported him to University of Michigan Hospital, spokeswoman Joyce Williams said.
Unlike Eder, Williams was much more caught off-guard by the bike-versus-deer report.
She said it took a couple of moments for the report to really register as reality.
“It’s definitely a first, for me anyway,” she said.
Williams said she didn't know what condition the deer was in. There were no injured deer visible near the intersection Thursday afternoon.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
rideon2112
Sun, Jun 24, 2012 : 2:45 p.m.
One of the pitfalls of only having an "online" newspaper, so to speak, is that in depth and accurate reporting sometimes suffers. Case in point here. I received an email about a former colleague of mine who had suffered serious injuries in a bike-deer accident. Upon looking it up on annarbor.com I see the headline "Bicyclist suffers minor injuries after colliding with deer." For anyone interested in what those minor injuries were; broken collarbone, 4 broken ribs, neck vertebrate injury requiring a brace. I wonder what this site would consider to be major injuries? Freak accident to say the least that could happen to anyone of us. Heal quickly Wally!
snapshot
Sun, Jun 24, 2012 : 4:45 a.m.
Was his ipod broken? Might have heard the dear coming.
Alex Nickodemus
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 8:55 p.m.
Bike on road = vehicle Deer crossing road = pedestrian Who should be ticketed? The cyclist for not yielding to a pedestrian that walked out in front of him, or the deer for jaywalking? According to the city of Ann Arbor, probably the cyclist.
JW
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 4:27 p.m.
Here in SE Ann Arbor on Pittsview Drive we have been contending with deer for years that I think live in the Mitchell-Scarlett woods. Late late last summer I scared off a herd of about 7 deer from my yard who enjoying my hostas! This year it is two yearling bucks that are giving me problems. Anyone know someone with a good crossbow? (I know that is illegal.)
Ann English
Sat, Jun 23, 2012 : 12:34 a.m.
I know people living on Charing Cross and one of them told me about deer sightings in their back and side yards, but I got the impression that deer had just begun infiltrating the Charing Cross-Pittsview area.
Roger Rayle
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 2:51 p.m.
A number of years ago, I was on my lawn tractor mowing the back yard when a big buck almost ran into me... which would have made for an interesting deer-Deere collision report. This time of year we get to see the does teach their fawns to be wary of humans... http://youtu.be/0-joqVij8Kc Vehicles are another matter.
Huron 74
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 2:31 p.m.
The Michigan DNR needs to develop a better plan for harvesting deer. There are too many deer because they have an unlimited food supply and no natural predators. They are losing their fear of humans and moving more and more into urban spaces. If the DNR isn't doing their job, hit them where it hurts, the budget! I say if they can't control the deer population, let them be responsible for picking up the carcasses on the highway (instead of the Highway Dept., Lord knows we need them fixing roads instead!).
Dog Guy
Sun, Jun 24, 2012 : 5:41 p.m.
I like coyote because they are fawn predators.
John of Saline
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 2:45 p.m.
Cougars would help.
Wolf's Bane
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 2 p.m.
Hmm, this sounds weird: "A man was sent to the University of Michigan Hospital with minor injuries after he and his bike collided with a deer at about 2 p.m." I think we can safely assume the man was riding his bike and that it wasn't lagging behind.
belboz
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 12:43 p.m.
@spm Ah yes, the dangerous runting season, when deer begin to shrink and start chasing the much smaller but more promiscuous rabbit. .....it is rutting.
EyeHeartA2
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 12:42 p.m.
This is only going to get worse. There is a whole herd of deer on North Campus and they have no fear. Now, we have a cougar, so that might help. Maybe we can get a wolf or two from Isle Royal and have a little ecosystem surrounded by freeways instead of Lake Superior.
belboz
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 4:18 p.m.
or... The people population in Deer habitat is alarming. There needs to be a serious thinning of these humans. Looks like they are starting with the bikers.
MRunner73
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 1:56 p.m.
The deer population in urban areas in these urban areas is alarming. Yes, there needs to be serious thinning of the deer population.
belboz
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 12:34 p.m.
Wonder if Sam Bernstein met him at the hospital. Sounds like he can sue for a lot of doe.
Jimmy McNulty
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 12:30 p.m.
The deer, being a pedestrian, clearly had the right of way. I bet the deer is dialing the Bernstein law firm as we read this.
spm
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 9:47 a.m.
While cycling I've been lucky to never have a deer bolt in front of me, squirrels on the other hand... But I did have a deer jump right over me while I was jogging in one of the parks. Scared the daylights out of me. Being under the deer all I could think of was "duck!" It was runting season and those deer were pretty wild.
sandalwood
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 6:37 a.m.
Maybe they should put up a "Bicyclist X Sign" in that area so the deer will look both ways before crossing!! I do hope the guy wasn't hurt too bad and wish him a speedy recovery!!!!
Ann English
Sat, Jun 23, 2012 : 12:30 a.m.
If there were no deer crossing sign on that part of Newport Road before, a sign will most likely be put in now, because of this collision.
actionjackson
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 2:50 a.m.
There is a good size buck in the woods by Grace Bible Church at Pauline and Maple. I have seen it several times. Also a friend on FB just snapped a photo yesterday of a doe with fawn on S. Revena.
hmsp
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 2:42 a.m.
@lynel: My son just got home after seeing what was probably the same pair on Stadium. The fawn was lying on one of those pedestrian islands, so my son thought it was hurt. My son got out to check, but he fawn got up and bolted, while its mom faced my son off. I don't seen deer inside the I-94 beltway too often, but, back in February or March, my dog did take a few laps around Eberwhite woods with three of them, a couple of days in a row ... But the West Side is nothing like the east side (sorry, you guys don't qualify for caps over there), near the Huron River corridor. Try growing plants in your yard if you live on Awixa, for instance! They're like squirrels over there! The deer, I mean. I've got no problem with the people.
snark12
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 2:08 a.m.
PS I came within a few feet of colliding with a deer on my bike on Glazier Way near the VA hospital last year.
snark12
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 2:06 a.m.
I was sure someone would have posted this by now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89-yq2jlnnc
Ann English
Sat, Jun 23, 2012 : 12:22 a.m.
That antelope did look like it deliberately attacked the mountain biker in South Africa. Nice and flat path for a race, so the rider had to use his own strength to go fast. But what a nice soft surface to land on, high grass to absorb the fall.
tdw
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 10:18 a.m.
Funny...I was just getting ready to look up that video when I read your comment
Bryan Ellinger
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 12:03 a.m.
Cycling is too often portrayed as being overly dangerous. It isn't. The idea hinders ridership. Plus, a larger presence only makes cycling safer. There were many of us out today.
Wolf's Bane
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 2:03 p.m.
People also forget that bikes have brakes.
Ryan Bowles
Thu, Jun 21, 2012 : 10:40 p.m.
That is one of the best downhills in the area. I regularly hit 30 mph there. The biker was lucky not to have serious injuries- and lucky there wasn't a car passing too closely at the same time.
Ann English
Sat, Jun 23, 2012 : 12:14 a.m.
Jeff Renner, You're right about the 25 mph speed limit there. I almost never drive there, but when the roundabouts were being installed on Maple so that road was closed from Craig south to Foss Road, at first I used Newport Road instead and noticed the LOW speed limit. No such speed limit on Laurentide, Parkridge or Robinwood.
Ron Granger
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 2:56 a.m.
Sure Jeff, because the cars don't regularly exceed 25mph on that road.
Jeff Renner
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 2:54 a.m.
You probably shouldn't admit this in a public forum - the speed limit there (for bikes as well as cars) is 25 mph! ;-)
lynel
Thu, Jun 21, 2012 : 9:53 p.m.
tdw, since you went off topic, I will too. I wanted to tell readers that a friend saw a doe and fawn cross Pauline at Redeemer yesterday. Probably not the same deer you saw though.
Stephen Landes
Thu, Jun 21, 2012 : 10:33 p.m.
That would have been funnier if I could type accurately --- SCHWINN :)
Stephen Landes
Thu, Jun 21, 2012 : 10:32 p.m.
Did it have SCWINN tattooed on its side?
SMC
Thu, Jun 21, 2012 : 9:51 p.m.
It's a good thing that the mayor didn't get his way and close that section of Huron River Drive to motor vehicle traffic, or the ambulance would have taken a lot longer to arrive.
Ann English
Sat, Jun 23, 2012 : 12:08 a.m.
If the ambulance DID use Huron River Drive, it could have turned onto Bird, Warrington or Foster Road. I'm sure the bicyclist was headed north on Newport, but the map reminded me how the hill starts at Bird Road. That's a good distance to build up speed before reaching Lowell Road. Speaking of Bird and Foster Roads, any bicyclist would apply brakes before heading down THOSE steep slopes to Huron River Drive and the Huron River ITSELF.
tdw
Thu, Jun 21, 2012 : 9:36 p.m.
Well this is somewhat off topic...But I live at Golfside and Packard ( the neighborhood behind the Chinese restaurant ) a deer came down Bergen heading north turned east ran through my side yard , jumped a fence ran north for two houses turned west jumped a fence and ran west that's the last I saw of it.BOY !! was it lost !.I'm still wondering where it came from
grimmk
Fri, Jun 22, 2012 : 2:21 p.m.
I think deer have special teleportation abilities. I was in the parking lot off Nixon road around midnight and a deer just casually walked through the parking lot. This was well over five years ago.
tdw
Thu, Jun 21, 2012 : 9:37 p.m.
Oh, this was yesterday ( I really wish there was a edit button )
MRunner73
Thu, Jun 21, 2012 : 9:34 p.m.
"Cars, sticks on the road"...as well as potholes is the reason why I am MRunner73, not MCyclist73. I'd rather be on foot. The only cycling I do is indoors at the gym on a Life Cycle or Airdryne bike. I don't need to wear a helmet for that.
Dog Guy
Sun, Jun 24, 2012 : 5:44 p.m.
"Razor-sharp hooves" is not a meaningless canard for those white-tailed rats.
LauraM
Thu, Jun 21, 2012 : 10:18 p.m.
There have been deer/runner collisions too! I don't remember where it was but years ago there was a deer/runner collision at a high school cross country meet and I remember reading about another one on a rural road somewhere. My experience has always been that they run across behind me; the ground shakes and the sound of their hooves on the pavement is really loud! I would not want to collide with one!!
Major
Thu, Jun 21, 2012 : 9:02 p.m.
In keeping with the aristocrats of Rogmahal's "do all for the bicycle no matter what" proclamations, will we now see open season on all city deer?
a2citizen
Thu, Jun 21, 2012 : 8:59 p.m.
Who had the right of way? One of these two should get a ticket for failure to yield.
John of Saline
Thu, Jun 21, 2012 : 8:35 p.m.
Maybe the deer expected him to stop at a stop sign.
markguy
Thu, Jun 21, 2012 : 11:23 p.m.
Sorry, no stop signs on this downhill portion of Newport.
SMC
Thu, Jun 21, 2012 : 9:49 p.m.
Hah!