A student from Essex has passed his driving test on the first attempt, despite hitting and killing a deer just 10 minutes into it.
17-year old Tom Lo struck the deer during his practical exam on a road near Colchester, and feared that hitting the animal would cause him to fail his test.
Speaking to BBC Newsbeat, he said: “I was picking up speed because it was a 60mph zone and all of a sudden I see a deer in front of me. So I hit my brake but unfortunately the deer was killed.”
After pulling over, Tom and his driving examiner checked the deer but said that there was nothing they could do for it, before instructing Tom to continue with the test.
Although he said that the accident shocked him, he managed to keep it together for the rest of the exam and ended up passing with just two minor faults.
"I didn't really know what to do"
“I was a bit shocked and I didn't really know what to do. I tried to focus because I'd worked quite hard on my driving test,” he said.
“I tried to carry on driving to a high standard. At the end my driving examiner told me I'd passed and he had a word with my driving teacher to let him know what had happened to the car.”
Tom’s driving instructor Robert Jezierski said that the damage to the car was negligible, just a cracked number plate and a split in the front bumper, but that Tom was pretty quiet after the test.
“Most pupils, when they've finished the test and they're told that they've passed - they have a big smile and put their thumbs up,” he said.
“But Tom just sat there quite quiet, obviously in shock at what had happened and a bit worried what I was going to say about the car.”
