Close call

[Haniki]

I’m sorry that you experienced this scary event. My riding club has just had a talk from the BHS officer responsible for Road Safety. Please download their app ‘Horse i’ and report it. Road incidents with horses are massively under reported.

 

[Fransurrey]

I had a guy overtake me at speed so close a few weeks ago he knocked my crop. I noticed him turn in to the village shop down the road so trotted on to have a word. As he got out I asked him if that was really necessary and he looked at me completely blank. An old guy, he seemed genuinely surprised at this angry banshee on horseback and could only mumble, "What?" After trying to explain to him that passing a horse at that speed and proximity was appalling behaviour, I had to give up as he just looked like a frightened old man who had no idea what I was on about. I was stupidly so annoyed and frustrated that he didn't even seem to know he'd PASSED a horse (decked out in orange and yellow high viz) I carried on my way without taking his plate. He really needed reporting as not being safe to drive any more.

 

[SEL]

I had a guy overtake me at speed so close a few weeks ago he knocked my crop. I noticed him turn in to the village shop down the road so trotted on to have a word. As he got out I asked him if that was really necessary and he looked at me completely blank. An old guy, he seemed genuinely surprised at this angry banshee on horseback and could only mumble, "What?" After trying to explain to him that passing a horse at that speed and proximity was appalling behaviour, I had to give up as he just looked like a frightened old man who had no idea what I was on about. I was stupidly so annoyed and frustrated that he didn't even seem to know he'd PASSED a horse (decked out in orange and yellow high viz) I carried on my way without taking his plate. He really needed reporting as not being safe to drive any more.

I have an elderly man like that near me. If I see his car coming now I get up on the verge because his peripheral vision doesn't seem to pick up the orange / yellow / pink combo that me and the pony are decked out in.

 

[SEL]

That was awful!

I think some people are pretty dense. They have no idea how to pass a horse and even less idea of what different hand signals mean.

Of course some are just arrogant and do these things maliciously.

I was having a lovely ride in the very welcome sunshine on Friday when a small van came barrelling towards me at the bottom of end of the village. He clearly wasn't slowing down , so I correctly and politely used my arm to ask him to slow down.

He pulled up next to me, wound his window down and yelled a load of abuse at me.

I'm usually quite thick skinned but it actually really upset me and ruined what had been a lovely hack up to that point.

I can't remember the last time I hacked out without having to put up with abusive, arrogant or dangerous drivers.

I think what really upsets me is that they don't see us as human beings or women. If we're on the back of a horse we're fair game.

I wanted to ask that man how he would feel if a man abused his wife or daughter in that way.

I have got hatcam footage but haven't felt like I've wanted to watch it.

Upload it to the police if you can - they take the abuse seriously

 

[SDMabel]

What an idiot, there is simply no excuse for that behaviour.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

I can’t believe how much this has shaken me, I used to have the hide of a rhino and the tongue of a viper but just now I think the constant pain and stress has just eroded my confidence.

All I can say is thank god my boy is as bombproof as a five year old can be, even Kia I think would haven’t been happy with that going on and he was the very definition of bombproof

 

[FinnishLapphund]

I can’t believe how much this has shaken me, I used to have the hide of a rhino and the tongue of a viper but just now I think the constant pain and stress has just eroded my confidence.

All I can say is thank god my boy is as bombproof as a five year old can be, even Kia I think would haven’t been happy with that going on and he was the very definition of bombproof

Maybe it really has eroded your confidence, but perhaps it's also partly caused by that the constant pain, and stress have drained your energy so you don't have any energy left to be confident with.

{{{{Hugs}}}}

 

[PeterNatt]

I am sorry to hear of all these incidents. I would definately report incidents of this nature to the Police and insist that they give you an ‘Incident Number’ (so that you know it has been recorded on their systems database).

Please report incidents such as near misses or if your horse is injured or you come off as a ‘Crash or Collision’ as per Section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 – where there is a duty to report damage caused to a human or animal (Horses are classified as Animals) this will come under Section 3 of The Road Safety Act. (Due Care and Attention).

Most police forces now have a ‘Snap Portal’ where you can send in hat cam coverage. Check on : https://nextbase.co.uk/national-das...vFa_PnQDKOp32qyvuFZ7bJ4ewSEcZRiFl51xjDqfHA5Tw

If the Police fail to respond then ask to speak to the Duty Officer. If you are still unhappy with their answer then contact your local Police Crime Commissioner.

Many people have little if any contact with horses these days – neither do they have any common sense. It is important that people are educated as to what to do when they meet or pass horses and by reporting incidents to the Police the Police may well contact them and advise them of their obligations. This is why it is so important to report these incidents to the Police as in many instances the Police are the only people able to identify who the registered keeper of a vehicle is.

Please also report all incidents to either the Horse i App or www.horseincidents.org.uk web site as the statistics can be collated for incidents across the U.K. and then lobbies can be made for changes in safety law.

In addition, if you know of a number of incidents along this stretch of road you have the option of organising a Police ‘Slow Pass’ Operation along this stretch of road, which involves a ridden or driven horse being observed by Police Officers and any dangerous drivers are stopped and talked to.
To organise a Police Slow Pass Operation contact the Safety Department of the BHS H.Q. Tel: 02476 840516 E-mail: safety@bhs.org.uk

As regards other measures you can take, I would recommend wearing a long sleeved Hi-Viz jacket so that other road users can clearly see your hand signals and also wearing a Hat-Cam such as the Techalogic DC-1 which films both forwards and backwards at the same time. (If you order on their web site www.techalogic.co.uk and use the discount code PWAS1 you will get a 7% discount)!

 

[Barton Bounty]

I am sorry to hear of all these incidents. I would definately report incidents of this nature to the Police and insist that they give you an ‘Incident Number’ (so that you know it has been recorded on their systems database).

Please report incidents such as near misses or if your horse is injured or you come off as a ‘Crash or Collision’ as per Section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 – where there is a duty to report damage caused to a human or animal (Horses are classified as Animals) this will come under Section 3 of The Road Safety Act. (Due Care and Attention).

Most police forces now have a ‘Snap Portal’ where you can send in hat cam coverage. Check on : https://nextbase.co.uk/national-das...vFa_PnQDKOp32qyvuFZ7bJ4ewSEcZRiFl51xjDqfHA5Tw

If the Police fail to respond then ask to speak to the Duty Officer. If you are still unhappy with their answer then contact your local Police Crime Commissioner.

Many people have little if any contact with horses these days – neither do they have any common sense. It is important that people are educated as to what to do when they meet or pass horses and by reporting incidents to the Police the Police may well contact them and advise them of their obligations. This is why it is so important to report these incidents to the Police as in many instances the Police are the only people able to identify who the registered keeper of a vehicle is.

Please also report all incidents to either the Horse i App or www.horseincidents.org.uk web site as the statistics can be collated for incidents across the U.K. and then lobbies can be made for changes in safety law.

In addition, if you know of a number of incidents along this stretch of road you have the option of organising a Police ‘Slow Pass’ Operation along this stretch of road, which involves a ridden or driven horse being observed by Police Officers and any dangerous drivers are stopped and talked to.
To organise a Police Slow Pass Operation contact the Safety Department of the BHS H.Q. Tel: 02476 840516 E-mail: safety@bhs.org.uk

As regards other measures you can take, I would recommend wearing a long sleeved Hi-Viz jacket so that other road users can clearly see your hand signals and also wearing a Hat-Cam such as the Techalogic DC-1 which films both forwards and backwards at the same time. (If you order on their web site www.techalogic.co.uk and use the discount code PWAS1 you will get a 7% discount)!

I really wish Scotland would catch up with this!

 

[Annagain]

Slight tangent but I've really noticed in recent weeks that since the 20mph limit has been introduced in Wales, most cars do seem to be slowing down for us more, and not just in 20mph zones. It seems to have made everybody far more aware of their speed. I don't know if it will continue or if people are just super-aware at the moment as there's been so much attention but it's very welcome.

 

[Pippity]

Do driving tests do modules about horses? Or is it very brief?

It was raised twice on my theory test, and I encountered a couple of traditional bowtop caravans on my practical, about ten years ago.

 

[Annagain]

It was raised twice on my theory test, and I encountered a couple of traditional bowtop caravans on my practical, about ten years ago.

I can't believe I'm admitting this on here but I failed my first driving test for driving too fast past horses .

In my defence, they were down an embankment on the opposite side of a very wide road. I could just about see the tops of the riders' hats. I slowed to about 15 but should have slowed to 10. They wouldn't even have known I was there.

On my second test I came up behind a trailer with a horse in it, going very slowly a on a narrow, windy lane. I knew I had to look for an opportunity to overtake it or I'd fail again. I was sure the horses were out to get me. Luckily it turned into a farm before we reached a bit of more open road so I didn't have to make that decision. I passed that time.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

So update.

The police have taken the video. They are going to speak to the woman and they are also speaking to the DVLA as they believe that she’s not safe to be on the roads. My friend handed them other videos of her in other cars doing the same. She also has access to drive a larger 4x4 so I’d rather she didn’t plough into us in that also

 

[Surbie]

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

I missed your update, but was reminded to come back here by seeing your video as part of the Pass Wide & Slow reels on Insta.

How are you doing now?

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

I missed your update, but was reminded to come back here by seeing your video as part of the Pass Wide & Slow reels on Insta.

How are you doing now?

To be honest I haven’t sat on Faran since that incident. He has bruised his soles with his antics but that only happened yesterday.

This hasn’t done my PTSD any good

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Maybe we should have a thread for clips of bad driving so we can make new pass wide and slow with new footage.