This comes in the wake of a Mercury report of Dapto man Robby Roberts, who almost collided with a herd of deer that was spread across three lanes of the M1 Princes Motorway at West Wollongong.

Mr Roberts said he only managed to stop just metres away from the herd.

A spokeswoman for Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair said the risk of crashes caused by collisions with introduced species like deer, and also native wildlife such as kangaroos was “treated seriously”.

“The government has a range of road safety initiatives that focus on driver awareness of potential collision risks and safe driving practices,” the spokeswoman said.

READ MORE: Deer cause more than 100 crashes in Illawarra

“With drought conditions throughout NSW, the risk of collisions with wildlife and livestock is heightened and drivers are encouraged to take this into consideration.”

The spokeswoman said deer species had been listed as a “priority pest” in the South East Regional Strategic Pest Animal Plan, which included the Illawarra.

Tied in with that approach was measures designed to make it easier for landowners to deal with deer on their property, the spokeswoman said.

“The government has adopted a balanced approach to deer management that treats deer as a regulated game species for the purposes of recreational hunting, but exempts landowners, members of their household and their employees from those regulations,” the spokeswoman said.

“Effectively this allows any landowner to manage deer as they see fit on their own land.”