Deer Oh Deer

A couple of weeks ago during a two-day Champ Car testing session at Road America in Elkhart Lake, former champion and ex-Formula One driver Cristiano da Matta had a serious accident at Turn Six.

No, he didn't hit against the retaining wall hard or flip over his car, and he didn't collide with another car either. And no, his car was not on fire and he didn't suffer any burns at all.

He was nearly killed because his car struck an adult deer which has somehow wandered onto the middle of the track, which hit the right front of the car, then struck da Matta in the helmet and knocked him out cold. The car eventually did plunge into a tyre wall at a high speed, with da Matta's foot still fully on the throttle. The result was subdural hematoma for da Matta, a traumatic form of brain injury.

Luckily for da Matta, he is now recovering from his injury after surgery, and his condition is slowly but steadily improving. He is now currently in a sedated coma and doctors have high hopes about a full recovery.

This is not the first time a deer is involved in a high speed crash. In 1987, Formula One driver Stefan Johansson of Sweden struck an equally mindless deer during practice for the Austrian Grand Prix at the then Osterreichring (now A1-Ring). He struck it head-on, and the impact was so severe that it simply totaled the sleek McLaren-TAG, which burst into flames, hit the barriers and skid along the track for some distance, before coming to a halt. Miraculously, Johansson escaped unscathed and was able to compete in the race the following day (in the spare car of course).

Two major accidents, and two dead deer.

While we are praying for da Matta's full recovery and thanking the Goodness for his care and protection shown on Johansson, one must ponder a very obvious question.

Why deer? And why deer only?

Why didn't other animals wander onto the track and got hit? Had da Matta hit a stray dog or cat, we might not be praying for his speedy recovery. Instead, we would be mourning for the loss of someone's best companion. And had Johansson hit an elephant on the track instead, he definitely would not have survived the impact.

And it is deer which keeps being knocked down by fast cars. Why?

Many believe that although some eight-foot high fences and barriers have been built around the entire track, they would not be a problem for the deer to jump over, given their amazing jumping ability. Such fences and barriers may prevent other animals from getting onto the track, but not the jumpy deer.

But given the instinct of animals to avoid accidents and natural disasters, shouldn't the deer be aware of the fast approaching cars?

Yours Truly, therefore, suggests a couple of possible reasons:

1. Deer are diehard racing fans, who follow closely (literally) to the action and do not mind dying the hard way;

2. Deer are radical thrill seekers and love the near-death experience. That's why they try to wait until the very last moment to get out of a car's way; or

3. Deer are environmentalists, who are willing to sacrifice some of their most extreme members to protest against the staging of noisy, polluting, boring and meaningless car races.

Oh deer.