There are probably quite a few people out there who don’t know what a “verderer” is – particularly among those readers who aren’t from the UK. For all practical purposes, it is an antiquated title referring to a long-lost time. The technical definition can be found here, although I’d just like to advise overseas visitors – Americans especially – that Britain doesn’t just consist of London and places near London., and the definition deals wholly with such places.
Anyway, according to this story which came in on the newsfeeds, it appears you don’t need to be very bright to rise the the heady heights of being a Verderer’s Clerk. All you need is an acute ability to not understand statistics and their relationship to cause and effect and it seems you’re a shoe-in.
It would appear that animal deaths due to road incidents in The New Forest have risen “sharply” this year – 67 compared with 40 in the same period last year. The animals involved are primarily ponies and cattle (probably – it isn’t made clear). Sue Westwood, Clerk, says:
So far in July we have already received reports of a further 10 accidents in which four animals have been killed and two injured.
This must indicate either a complete lack of awareness or consideration for the Forest’s animals on the part of motorists driving through the Forest.
Ms Westwood seems to be under the impression that motorists don’t have any concerns about driving into one tonne of livestock at speed, and blames the toll wholly on the road user. Had she mentioned that animals might be straying into the path of oncoming traffic as a result of the extreme weather (in search of food, or because of increasing numbers) she might have made a little more sense. She might also have mentioned that the verderers she represents had been asked to do whatever they could to address this to the best of their ability, thus making it slightly less of a ridiculous accusation. She could even have appealed to motorists to take more care without laying on the blame with such a large shovel. But I would imagine that didn’t occur to her.
Once, about 10 years ago, I was driving through the Cotswolds on a 60mph road. There was a Transit van, a Ford Ka, then me. All of a sudden a herd of deer ran out from a gap in the hedge right in front of the van (deer, like most animals, don’t have any road sense, you see). We all did emergency stops, but the van had no chance and just smashed into them. The road was littered with injured and panicking deer. From what I could see at the time, a large piece of the van’s engine had fallen on to the road – and there was oil and water everywhere.
The van driver was not at fault. He wasn’t doing anything wrong. The deer, on the other hand, were.
Fortunately, down in Hampshire, people who are a little better qualified to do their jobs are also involved in the original story:
Nigel Matthews, community and visitor services manager at the New Forest National Park Authority, said a number of initiatives are running to combat animal accidents, including reflective pony collars, changing road warning signs to keep drivers’ attention, traffic calming measures and enforcement of the 40mph speed limit…
…This is a notorious high-risk route for animal accidents…
Hopefully, this more practical involvement will go some way to reducing the risk, to wild animals… AND humans in cars.