another scary ride dam bus driver

ILuvCowparsely

ILuvCowparsely

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Please bear with me this may not come out right.

Tuesday going on our walk, me cycling (not allowed to ride yet since accident) walking along quietly merc driver squeeze between young girl on my gelding and a car coming towards her driver behind squeeze through 1/2 ft between them. 3 minutes on I look behind and put are out still cycling slowly and rider behind. This f (&^ing woman blast her hon at us causing gelding to jump sideways. I shout something along the lines you idiot I have my hand out. Then she turns left and a minute later we do, driver pulls up on the side in front of garage. She gets out and so does passenger (who says nothing old man) She says something and I say what did you hoot for I had my arm out, driver says" I thought you were protecting the horse" duh how??? I don't know, I said "no I was indicating" She says "well that is a bad combination". I said "no it isnt If I was not her he could land on your bonnet" she says"" then it should not be on the road" I said " don't worry its all on camera" she says good" unfortunately i had forgotten the camera. Luckily someone gave me her address and tel hehe so called police.


Today we were out again all going well till double decker flew round the corner and then saw us and put air brakes on which caused my horse to canter on spot and jump sideways onto the other side going backwards. Double decker still caries on and overtakes making my boy jump back on his side and double decker puts his air brakes on again, during this time the young rider is lent forward round his neck and I thought oh oh this is going to be bad. I could not drop bike down in case he jumped towards me and landed on it , so I started talking to him and he calmed a bit and I went forward and grabbed him, my legs shaking with adrenaline.



This is getting stupid on the roads round here, they drive past at 50+ on a road 40mph where many horse yards are. There will be an accident I am sure in the coming future. No I am not going to stop hacking, we should be allowed to go out , its the traffic that need a reality check on going the correct speed. Now I did buy one the the new jackets with a camera but its really hard to get the right position.


I can't find the post with the cameras advice on, so please recommend a helmet camera as the hedcam one I have is no good for me
cookies and coco if you get to read till the end. ty
:)
 
Some people are so inconsiderate and selfish on the roads.

I know if probably wont make much difference, but if there aren't any already, could you ask the Council to put up horse/rider warning signs?
 
Sounds like an accident waiting to happen, You can report bus drivers as they are on timetables, they will have on board footage too!

I know you want to go out, but with a young rider, and a nervous horse, it is a recipe for disaster, as you already know the road is dangerous, be responsible, dont be pig headed 'just because we should be allowed to go out'
 
Speak to the bus company about the bus, first of all. At a yard I was at a few years ago we used to have issues with one particular bus driver who would deliberately drive *at* the horses as fast as he could, swerving at the last minute. I was out cycling around by the yard one afternoon and he tried to run myself and my friend off our bikes, it was genuine and he meant it. I took the bus reg, his description and called the bus company who dealt with him. Saw him still driving the bus but he was certainly far moire considerate. I'd ask the council about traffic calming too - maybe get the local BHS officer involved?
 
My theory on this topic is that non-horsey drivers haven't got a clue what our hand signals mean. A media campaign would go down well, if it doesn't simply employ v-signs! ;-)
 
What a horrible day you've had. Hope rider and horse are ok.

Can I just say though - that the hiss from air brakes isn't something the driver does to annoy people. Air brakes work by a build up of air pressure in the pipes which causes the brakes to release - the air has to go somewhere, and escapes with a hissing noise. it's not deliberate, and cannot be controlled
 
Zero00000 said:
Sounds like an accident waiting to happen, You can report bus drivers as they are on timetables, they will have on board footage too!

I know you want to go out, but with a young rider, and a nervous horse, it is a recipe for disaster, as you already know the road is dangerous, be responsible, dont be pig headed 'just because we should be allowed to go out'
Click to expand...



I am not pig headed I have owned and ridden out from this yard since 1996 and ridden past here before we brought this since 1989.

All riders and yards use this route to get to the woods


good idea about footage, just do not know which school uses double deckers, my horse isnt normally like this I think any horse would react the same with a double decker behind them putting his air brakes on then continue to pass and put air brakes on again

the rider was or is 18 so not that young and has 3 horses of her own, this was down to the buses speed pure and simple
 
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Auslander said:
What a horrible day you've had. Hope rider and horse are ok.

Can I just say though - that the hiss from air brakes isn't something the driver does to annoy people. Air brakes work by a build up of air pressure in the pipes which causes the brakes to release - the air has to go somewhere, and escapes with a hissing noise. it's not deliberate, and cannot be controlled
Click to expand...


yes I know he doesnt put the hiss on deliberately as I have air brakes to on box, the fact is if he was not going so fast he would have rolled past us like the one going out did with no issue, it was because he was going to fast round the corner and did not think anything would be slow on rd in front

i will name and shame the one last week Chalfont coaches who hit a riders arm a few years back going to close, well one nearly knocked me off last week coming round corner fats and cut the corner so its a danger to cyclist too
 
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Suby2 said:
Some people are so inconsiderate and selfish on the roads.

I know if probably wont make much difference, but if there aren't any already, could you ask the Council to put up horse/rider warning signs?
Click to expand...

there are 2 triangular horse riding signs already in place, I would like the police to do a spot check but they wont
 
WindyStacks said:
My theory on this topic is that non-horsey drivers haven't got a clue what our hand signals mean. A media campaign would go down well, if it doesn't simply employ v-signs! ;-)
Click to expand...

That's why I really can't understand why part of the driving test doesn't include questions on what to do when encountering horses on the road.
 
We are fortunate, the vast majority of the bus drivers round here are used to horses and very considerate, we have emailed and thanked the bus company before now - and we have complained about one particular driver. My mare (who can only be described as 'bombproof') was peering under a coach recently when it stopped to let us pass and she didn't hear the air brakes.
OP, You really need to find a way of getting your horse used to all the different hazards that might be encountered when hacking, including a vast variety of noisy traffic.
Safety has to be paramount.
 
I am sorry to hear about these incidents.
Please report each of them on the www.horseaccidents.org.uk web site as it is importants that statistics are collected for incidents of this nature.
Always wear long sleeved Hi-Viz jackets when riding out so that other road users can see you and your hand signals more clearly.
Go on a BHS Road Safety course as this will teach you additional road riding skills.
Contact your local county BHS road safety officer and ask them for advice as to how to slow down traffic along this road.
 
PeterNatt said:
I am sorry to hear about these incidents.
Please report each of them on the www.horseaccidents.org.uk web site as it is importants that statistics are collected for incidents of this nature.
Always wear long sleeved Hi-Viz jackets when riding out so that other road users can see you and your hand signals more clearly.
Go on a BHS Road Safety course as this will teach you additional road riding skills.
Contact your local county BHS road safety officer and ask them for advice as to how to slow down traffic along this road.
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I will report them.

I was wearing a hi viz jacket as were the rider and horse wearing hi viz.

I did my road safety course back in the 1980's
I will contact the BHS safety officer though ty
 
Spotsrock said:
Neither of mine would have reacted to either incident. Neither are quiet horses.
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Arnt you lucky then, A double decker bus traveling along around 45 MPH round a bend and finding a horse slams brakes on with air brakes. and your horse is going to stand there even while double decker is pushing is way through and the air brakes blast again. ???????
 
Pearlsasinger said:
We are fortunate, the vast majority of the bus drivers round here are used to horses and very considerate, we have emailed and thanked the bus company before now - and we have complained about one particular driver. My mare (who can only be described as 'bombproof') was peering under a coach recently when it stopped to let us pass and she didn't hear the air brakes.
OP, You really need to find a way of getting your horse used to all the different hazards that might be encountered when hacking, including a vast variety of noisy traffic.
Safety has to be paramount.
Click to expand...

there is nothing more I can do he grew up beside this road and saw tractors - and buses pass etc. Hacks 3 times a week normally. There is obviously a reason why he has got more spooky and its not his eyes as vets checked them.

He goes out twice a week at the moment and has many buses pass him , these normally take their foot of accelerator as they pass so bus glides. This was a sudden huge blast of air, horses are Fright Flight animals, he was just doing the instinct thing only he did not take off as some would have done, instead he tried to spin then just stood on the spot shuffling from one foot to another.
 
No excuse of driver not understanding your signals - she should understand how a cyclist indicates!

Sounds like a pretty rubbish week for hacking. I hate it when drivers try to squeeze through. I've had that happen a couple of times, when they overtake even though a car is coming and think it'll be ok if they just get really close to the horse. I now always ride with a schooling whip sticking out sideways. Makes them have to give a wider (as in "what they should be giving you") berth
 
I agree with the poster who said drivers no longer understand hand signals. Three times recently I have had drivers totally misunderstand my right turn signal. Meaning they made a dash past me as I turned right. After the third time I decided never to go until road is clear rather than assume driver who slowed behind me will
Wait whilst I turn - sometimes it's a long wait as it is a busy road
 
I must admit that years ago when I still had my bombproof mare I used to ride in the middle of the lane, it meant drivers HAD to slow down to go round me. Luckily I've since moved yards and haven't had an issue with 99% of drivers since. I also agree with the other posters who say that bus drivers in general are pretty good - my lad isn't great with big traffic, yet one bus driver was so good my lad didn't even blink when he passed us, I didn't even hear him until he was right behind us! I did email the company to tell them to thank him, for my lad to not react is unheard of!
 
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