Another Horse Killed on the roads

[foraday]

Over 1 week ago on a VILLAGE road a school bus which had been reported for speeding in a neighbouring village killed Rocky an endurance prospect owned by Helen Retalick who is an active Member with the Littleport Pony Club. Helen suffered minor injuries but Rocky died at the scene.

It got reported in the local papers and now the usual message boards are full of rubbish as per usual! Would you lovely HHO please state that we are forced to use the blessed roads!

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/people/messageboard/messages.lpf?threadid=37303

 

[anniedoherty]

What an odious bunch of people there are on that forum! I am especially worried by the poster who thinks that being thanked for slowing down when passing a horse is an insult to him. He also sounds like a total moron when he says he is on the coach driver's side - what? - he actually thinks that drivers should mow down horses and their riders because they are an irritation?

 

[sunflower]

The point they seem to be missing is that regardless of any signals given, they should pass wide and slow. If drivers did this then horse riders would not need to give hand signals.

 

[anniedoherty]

I totally agree sunflower. I think the point about horse riders not paying road tax is a bit wide of the mark too, since most of us who are adults drive cars anyway so have already paid the tax.

Again, the poster who said that drivers do own the road because they "have paid for it" is hightly worrying and this is presumably what fuels these dangerous idiots' belief that, since they "own" the road they are at liberty to remove other road users as they see fit, even by running them down. It's a scary attitude isn't it? I wonder if they drive at pedestrians crossing the road too? Wouldn't be suprised if they did to be honest.

 

[ladylisa]

It makes me so mad that there are people out there that feel that we should not be on the road with our horses, FFS horses where there first!

 

[polyphonic]

i was always lead to believe that livestock had more of a right of way over vechiles on roads?! its such a shame that accidents happen out of pure ignorance, when these people should be educated on the matter. i've called the police once over a driver who aimed the car at us after we asked him to slow down (i was with member JACKSTER) to no avail. took details over the phone and never heard a word back from them

 

[sunflower]

It's a very scary attitude. I have to say though the worst incident I've ever had riding on the road was being followed all they way down a narrow lane back to the riding stables by a car driving far too close to the back of my horse (I was at the back of the ride) revving his engine all the way. There was no where for us to pull in to let him pass. He knew that as he was a local point-to-point trainer and rode along that road everyday. If some members of the 'equestrian community' have this attidtude then what hope is there for other drivers.

 

[WelshRareBit]

They wouldnt be saying that if their daughters had ponies and got knocked flying off their horses....

 

[anniedoherty]

I'm too scared to hack out at all at the moment - partly due to my horse never having been out on the roads before as he is young and partly because I am not convinced that I would be safe even if Oliver behaved impeccably. Like you, I also had an experience of someone driving really close behind me all the way back down the narrow lane to the yard. He was also going to the yard so I assume he knew something about horses but his Land Rover's engine was making a high pitched whining sound and was freaking my mare out. She kept spinning and half rearing and I signalled for him to stop to let us trot off so that I could get her off the lane when it got a bit wider but he just ignored me - the stupid *&%$. I had to take my mare in to a paddock to calm her down and the git had gone when I was ready to confront him.

 

[RachelB]

What a tragic accident. And what a horrible lot of people posting on that link - whatever happened to tolerance? I'm also with Flintus, I was always taught that the newer technology gives way to the older one ("electric gives way to steam" or something...). If these people were even remotely related to someone injured or killed on the roads on a horse they would all be more tolerant of riders on the roads. Grr people like that make my blood boil!

 

[Moggy in Manolos]

It makes me so cross, what these ignorant folk dont understand is that every horse has to be desensitised to the roads slowly but surely, this does involve taking greenish horses on quieter roads, once training is done they can go safely on the roads but if some idiots dont drive properly then its not safe no matter how bombproof the horse. It really does make my blood boil, some one on one of those posts said there are unpredictable animals behind the wheel also, so whats this persons point about horses shouldnt be on the roads, what a valid point i thought. If can avoid roads by golly i do, wish these ignoramous would realise this! if it werent for horses our civlisation wouldnt have evolved as quickly as it has, they did so much for people before motors ccame along, they have every right to go on roads and be given ample room and consideration, that is not to say a rider should be inconsiderate themselves, it does go both ways. But what a sad accident, that driver should have his licence taken away for being such an idiot!

 

[roanrebel]

How ignorant some of those people on that thread are!

 

[spooks]

only read a few of the posts but according to some posters when i want to take my horse for a hack i need to load him onto the lorry and drive him 100 metres up the road and then off load him!! (our yard is on a main road ) so while im not holding up the traffic by riding a horse on the road ,im actually stopping the traffic while i load and unload him!! lol oh and as for the 'road tax' poster ....i pay 3 lots ...

 

[WishfulThinker]

Its all ridiculous! we all got along perfectly well 50 years ago?!!

My OH always says Drive what you can see, so if the coach driver couldnt see far enought ahead ot spot the horse he shoul dhave been going slower. 60mph is the max, not THE recommended speed for the road!! Although from my driving lessons + test I must say that this WAS the impression I got as they kept telling me to get oto 60, use 5th gear!
Some roads need no more than 20mph as they are too dangerous. I mean would you sprint full speed into the unknown?? No you wouldnt!

That person saying todays roads are no where for unpredicatable horses is practucally admitting that drivers nowadays drive to dangerously for anyone else to be on the road!
I heard on the radio some woman said that they should lower the speed limits on country roads, and I agree!
Those people that are surprised to see a horse when out on a country road are in my opinion a bit thick, I mean duh! expect the unexpected, and think ahead. If ou cant htink - DONT DRIVE!

I think that I might use the following excuse next time I cant walk to work!!

"Sorry, I cant come to work today as I dont pay road tax so therefore dont own the roads so if I walk up to catch my bus I will be tresspassing as there are no pavements, and I dont want to upset anyone"

haha

 

[tw1nn1ejo]

Thats awful! R.I.P Rocky and I hope that Helen recovers quickly and well.

 

[Puppy]

I posted about this a bit further down - largely as I knew Rocky.

Perhaps someone who is registered on that forum (I'm not, I hate our local paper; load of tosh!!) could point out that the road in question is a matter of minutes walk linking one bridleway to another. What a bunch of idiots on that forum!!

 

[magic104]

Well if it was not for the horse we would probably still be in the dark ages like some of their comments!! It makes me mad, we may not pay taxes, but we are not on the roads as often as cars, & we do not do the damage to the roads that cars do, so too right us drivers pay car tax! We drivers polute the environment unlike horses. As riders there is no option but to use the roads. Next they will be banning walkers, & cyclists.

 

[lottie1990]

omg this just annoys me, people jsut dont understand anything about horses, there nto a machine there animals, flight animals!

All farmers fields should have 1 metre or 2 i think from the hedge, if they turned these into bridleways we wouldnt have to go on the road.
And if i saw a vechicle coming towards me at a high speed of course i would wave my arm or stick! grrr!

 

[the watcher]

The simple fact is that is doesn't matter at the end of the day who has the right of way. If you fail to do something as a driver to avoid an accident, even if you have right of way, you can still be prosecuted. The expression 'right of way' has no meaning other that with reference to road layouts.

 

[foraday]

Just heard today that the Police are not going to prosecute the coach driver.

The BHS and other bridleway organisations have been on this case already.

 

[suestowford]

[ QUOTE ]
i've called the police once over a driver who aimed the car at us after we asked him to slow down (i was with member JACKSTER) to no avail. took details over the phone and never heard a word back from them

[/ QUOTE ]

There was a good story in the last BHS magazine on a similar topic, where a lady leading her horse was terrorised by a dangerous driver. She got no joy from two different police stations .... until she revealed that she was in fact a senior police officer from a neighbouring force. She got some pretty smart results after that.

However much I enjoyed that story I found myself feeling rather cross - why should you have to be a senior police officer to get action over these drivers?

Also, to the person who asked if these inconsiderate drivers are as aggressive with walkers and cyclists - yes, in my experience they are. They would probably be the same with anyone or anything that was unfortunate enough to get in their way.

I would like to see a new driving offence - aggressive driving, with the penalty being that guilty drivers should be banned from driving for a considerable period of time.

 

[Dogbetty141]

QR people like these on that forum should be taught that horse have just as much right of way as cars do on the roads! If they just slowed down and passed wide then there would be much less accidents on the road than there is nowadays at the moment it seems to be every month! I have to ride on the roads to get to the bridles and my horse is as bombproof in traffic as any other bombproof horse but every now and then something might scare them! If they passed wider and slower it would reduce the risk of accidents! It really fustrates me this subject! Do you reckon we could get a petition or something going??