- Credit to hodgewatch.co.uk for the picture
On Saturday, reports came in that a deer had been struck/decapitated on the Ultimate rollercoaster at Lightwater Valley in the U.K. According to park officials, the accident occurred early on Saturday morning, and it caused the ride to be shut down for 30 minutes. No riders suffered any injuries but a few riders towards the front of the train had deer blood stained on their clothing. Park officials said that there is a fence that goes around the perimeter of the park, but on the rare occasion, animals do get through the fence and into the ride areas. There is a stretch of the 1.5 mile long coaster that is a straight stretch, the deer is thought to have been struck there. Not surprisingly, this is not the first time an accident like this has occurred. Back in 1994 the same thing occurred, only in that case, a 12 year old boy had to go the hospital. Overall, no one was seriously injured, and the ride reopened 30 minutes after the incident.