Awful news

PapaverFollis said:
I'm struggling to see how the driver is not culpable phone or not. We know he wasn't dead at the wheel by virtue of him still being alive. It seems like if he was paying enough attention he would not have driven into the back of a horse box hard enough to kill four horses... it seems very unlikely that there are mitigating circumstances that might excuse this?
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Exactly I would imaging it was a very large horsebox having 4 on board how on earth do you not see that unless your not paying attention and have your eyes on the road properly.
 
What a heart breaking and soul destroying thing to happen. This has made me feel sick to the pit of my stomach. ?
 
GinaGeo said:
It is absolutely devastating.

I've just bought a pack of five foldable cones to accompany the warning triangle we carry. Breaking down with horses on board is my worst nightmare. Anything we can do, to give us every chance to be seen has to be worth it.
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Could you give link to the website please? Thanks
 
Pinkvboots said:
Exactly I would imaging it was a very large horsebox having 4 on board how on earth do you not see that unless your not paying attention and have your eyes on the road properly.
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Not only 4 horses but all the feed needed for them plus large enough living space for all the people involved plus all the tack, clothing etc needed for a 3 day competition. Yes if it was the one I last saw at an event it was huge.
 
well i`m going to buy some proper plastic road cones and fit the biggest flashing light possible on them, and put top to bottom on the ramp flashing lights, and bloody use them and i urge others to go the whole way too, fannying about round the edges wont work here, also possibly rear cam corder
 
tristar said:
well i`m going to buy some proper plastic road cones and fit the biggest flashing light possible on them, and put top to bottom on the ramp flashing lights, and bloody use them and i urge others to go the whole way too, fannying about round the edges wont work here, also possibly rear cam corder
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everyone should have a rear and forward facing dashcam. I have a forward facing but definetely need to get a rear facing. Some of them are really good, my partner has a dashcam fitted into a rear view mirror shape which also acts as a rear view mirror.

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Velcrobum said:
Pretty awful

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-58309717
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Thanks for posting that link. That was the image we saw when we were stuck in the tailback on the opposite side of the road to the accident yesterday afternoon. I knew it was bad when I saw the damage to the cab of the white lorry – they are high up and they don't crumple easily. Then I saw a horse box and said to my daughter, oh God, I hope horses aren't involved. As the details emerged, we now know they were and we are both so upset by the news. We just can't get it out of our minds and have been in tears. There are no words… Nick and Sophie, we have never met you, but my daughter and I would like to say how desperately sad we are for the loss of your four "precious babies". RIP Party Trick, Charisma, Feyre and Fintan.
 
This is awful, I just can't imagine what they have been through.
A few weeks ago I had to stop on the side of the A34 for a puncture in my little hatchback. These was no hard shoulder and no layby near by. I rang NFU rescue for help, I didn't fancy changing my wheel myself, and following phoning OH to tell him what had happened I rang police on 101 to give them a heads up that my car was possibly in the way. Whilst I was on the phone to 101 a 2 lorries barrelled down the road towards my car, the one on the inside had no hope of avoiding it, and sure enough poor little car was opened like a tuna can and shunted down the road. Thankfully I was not in it. At that point I rang 999 to tell them to get a car to us asap before there was a second accident as the lorry was parked about 100 yds ahead of me well into the road.
The lorry driver said he didn't see me, I could to a point understand that as he was being overtaken at the time and probably would have been looking at his outside wing mirror, but how on earth the other lorry didn't see Nick in a large box, what a total tragedy.
My plea to anyone who finds themselves broken down on the side of a busy road is please ring the police, when they eventually turned up at my accident site we were coned off and the difference in the attitude of other passing drivers completely changed.
 
Absolutely awful, it's beyond comprehension. The news was slowly filtering up to Blair yesterday afternoon. Sophie Holme has posted saying she was already at Blair getting stables ready, it must have been awful getting the news and horrendous for Nick Gaunlet and those with him witnessing it.
 
Absolutely sickening. I only tend to use the A9 to go to Blair every year, its a dangerous road, Im not sure why there's so many accidents but there's lots of tourists and its not all dual so I guess people get frustrated and try to overtake in stupid places etc. In this case, I fail to see how a lorry driver who is sitting higher up could NOT have seen the lorry which was on the brow of a hill. He would have seen it sooner than a car would have done and presumably several of those saw it and went past safely.

Its a disgrace if the driver is found to be at fault and isnt charged properly for such an accident. Poor horses. I cant even imagine witnessing it. Im heading to Blair at the weekend, it'll have cast a big shadow over the whole event thats for sure.
 
I’ve just read that apparently you aren’t actually allowed to cone off a live lane yourself.

Unsure if accurate- was a post about this incident.
 
Michen said:
I’ve just read that apparently you aren’t actually allowed to cone off a live lane yourself.

Unsure if accurate- was a post about this incident.
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would think there would be a high risk involved in going into a fast road like a motorway to set up cones but if you were trying to protect horses or even someone trapped in a car, being charged with inappropriate use of cones or whatever would be the least of your concerns.
 
Nicnac said:
I saw a couple of months ago that Spain are making V16 Emergency Beacons mandatory for breakdowns. They're magnetic and can be seen from 1.5kms away. I have just ordered 3 for our vehicles.
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My parents live in Spain and there is quite alot of equipment you need to carry. I have at various times had to fit luggage around chains, warning triangles, hi viz etc
 
criso said:
would think there would be a high risk involved in going into a fast road like a motorway to set up cones but if you were trying to protect horses or even someone trapped in a car, being charged with inappropriate use of cones or whatever would be the least of your concerns.
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I completely agree, I’d do it anyway.
 
I've completely lost my nerve re transporting horses .. the A9 is atrocious .. bad enough in a car but I can't justify risking my horse anymore .. I've made the heart renching decision to cease training as my trainer is at the other end of it.. I just can't summons the courage to drive down it with my horse any more. this dreadful incident just reinforces my feelings about it.
 
The incident was awful. Indescribable.

However, it seems that there will be many better protected horse boxes out there for the future.

I am buying 4 of the above lights, one for each car too.

I sincerely hope I am wasting my money and never need them.
 
ycbm said:
Anyone buying these, scroll down, the identical light appears to be sold much cheaper by other sellers.
.
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You are right, I just came back on to say I found four of what look like identical lights, for under £40.

They are without the battery, but that is OK, I would prefer Duracell anyway.
 
Absolutely horrendous. I know that bit of road well. There is no hard shoulder, just a grassy verge.

The A9 is a notoriously busy and dangerous road. I heard it was shut again yesterday north of Stirling for a while. It's a very regular occurrence.

I don't know about other makes, we only use Scanias and they all have auto braking for exactly this situation. Cameras and radar continuously look for vehicles stopped ahead and apply the brakes. Husband says it's only cut in once with him when some boy racers over took him then had to stop suddenly themselves. The lorry just stood on it's nose.
 
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