Didn't slow down for horses on the road today, not sure if I was to blame though...

[JustKickOn]

This evening I was driving home from the yard at 7.45pm.
It was clouded over and raining pretty hard and had been for the past 40 minutes or so. This weather had been predicted, and just looking in the sky the few hours before you could see it was coming.
The speed limit on the road is 40mph, and admittedly I was doing around 50, only due to running a little late. It's usually a quiet road past rush hour.
There are a couple of livery yards along the road, and signs warning of horses. I've ridden along said road many times myself, so know it is used for hacking.

So why the title??

I didn't slow down because I couldn't see the riders or their horses.
Dark bay horse had a too small yellow exercise sheet on so only visible from behind, rider with no tabard or anything on, wearing dark clothes. The other horse had no reflectives or fluros on, and the rider had a muddy/dirty tabard on, and was tucked in behind the bay.

I slowed as soon as I saw them, but I know it wasn't soon enough. I stopped and wound down the window and apologized to the riders, and got a mouthful back. I could completely understand where they were coming from with what they were saying, but felt they didn't really help themselves by not being very visible. I know I was speeding, but it is a straight stretch of road, and you can see nearly the whole length of it. Knowing what the roads are like round here to hack on, I have a bright pink waistcoat on, and horse with neck band, leg bands and a sheet in winter. I don't think that is considered to be OTT and have been told how visible we are by drivers.

I feel bad for not slowing down, especially being a 'horsey' person, and knowing the roads, but I can't help feeling slightly annoyed at the riders...

Please can someone tell me I'm not nuts for thinking that riding on the roads when it is getting dark, and the weather is abysmal is slightly stupid, and dangerous??

L .

 

[Dizzydancer]

You did the right thing. Its now nearly end of summer. Not sure where in country you are but here its dark gone half 8 so at that time you saw them i would be driving with side lights on car at min so would expect horses to be in bright fluorescent and ideally flashing lights. Especially when rain forecast too. Some people have no common sense.

 

[nikicb]

Sorry, you were doing (by your own admission) 50 and it was a 40 mph speed limit. Forget what the riders/horses were wearing - you were speeding. You were to blame and would have been responsible if an accident had happened.

 

[Shysmum]

Agggggggggggrrrrrrrrr !! can't read your post cos your siggie video does my eyes in !

 

[el_Snowflakes]

The riders are pretty foolish for being out in the conditions you describe without hi viz. But as far as I know its not obligatory (*correct me if Im wrong*) However, if you had hit them you were speeding (& in an area where you know theres likely to be horses) so you were at fault....

 

[HBM1]

you were still speeding on a road you know has horses hacking down it. I was in the fields with my horses this evening, one minute it was sunny and the next it was really very dim, anyone can get caught out by such sudden change in light. As a horse owner I would have thought you would be even more aware of this.

 

[Trifein]

Ideally they should have Hi-Viz Leg Wraps and something on the bridle too to make them more luminous.

The best thing they could of done is accepted your apology. But the riders should have more Hi-Viz gear for oncoming cars from in front and behind.
It is very dangerous for the riders to do that, I agree it is a bit stupid. Especially in heavy rain. If a car was speeding say 60-ish and didn't see the riders and the horse spooked on a wet road..well.

But then again you was speeding, let this be a lesson.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Faults all round imo.

 

[HaffiesRock]

You cant slow down if you cant see them.

I went out for a short walk down the road today on my new boy. It wasnt planned (came out of the school and wondered how he would be) and I wasnt wearing my hi viz, but I was wearing a bright orange t shirt so thought id be ok. Its a quiet village and a slow road but I felt bad the whole time so turned round and came back!

In my opinion, its common sense to wear it at all times on the road.

 

[nikicb]

You cant slow down if you cant see them.

I agree that she can't slow down if she doesn't see them, but she was going 25% over the speed limit at the time, thus endangering herself and any other road users.

 

[Lego]

Sounds like you gave yourself a bit of a shock as much as them... Admittedly I do the same as you - road I know well I may bump the speed limit a little, but perhaps if getting dark and raining, a reason to slow down? I got pulled over by the police recently for driving too fast for conditions and ever since, try to be a bit more aware of speed limits and rain - the reason I got pulled over I suppose!

However...so many riders give the rest of us a bad name! I get the mickey taken out of me mercilessly by some people on my yard for going out trussed up like a hi-viz xmas tree, but I think that it's a rider's responsibility to be visible from all angles - should be the same for cyclists.

Sometimes though, however carefully you drive, you just can't see people. I was driving down a wide straight main road near my yard recently and coupldn't work out why everyone in front suddenly slammed on the brakes...as I overtook the obstruction, I saw the 2 children, one being led, on little grey ponies. The adult leader was wearing the smallest, tattiest tabard, and with them under the shade of the trees, I couldn't see them until I was nearly on top of them...

Hope they got the message and realised how invisible they were even if they just snapped at you at the time!

 

[Magnetic Sparrow]

Well, I'm not sure driving at the speed limit would have made much difference as to whether you saw them, although of course you would have done less damage if you had actually collided with them. A similar thing has happened to me and I was doing less than the speed limit when I completely failed to see a horse and rider until I was only about three car lengths from them.

Some people just don't realise how risky their behaviour is or just don't want to take responsibility for their own actions. You see the same characteristics in some cyclists too. Equally you can be glow-in-the-dark fluorescent on horse or bike and still experience blind idiot drivers who fail to see you.

You can't win, I'm afraid.

 

[JustKickOn]

I agree that she can't slow down if she doesn't see them, but she was going 25% over the speed limit at the time, thus endangering herself and any other road users.

I say around 50, I was over the set limit, but due to the gradient in the road it would have been fluctuating between 40, and 45, max 50. I know this.

If you take the speed out of the equation, what would your thoughts be, just out of interest?

 

[3Beasties]

If you had been going slower you may have seen them sooner.

 

[Irishbabygirl]

If you were doing the speed limit you probably would have seen them sooner, but they were taking a risk riding out in those conditions at that time of the evening.

 

[Gloria Victous]

You were speeding, they were vulnerable, speeding is against the law, Hi Viz is an option.

 

[Beausmate]

Stopping distance at 40mph........120 feet or 36 metres.
at 50mph........175 feet or 53 metres.

Double it for wet roads. If one of the horses had had a spooking session and jumped out into the road, could you have stopped in time?

If they had been using adequate hi-viz, you might have had an extra couple of seconds, but would it have been enough?

People who ride out without making an effort to be seen, are muppets. As are people doing 50 in a 40 in the wet.

Hopefully you've all learned from your mistakes, but I'll bet those riders will still ride out without hi-viz. Had a couple of near misses with 'invisible riders' myself.

 

[nikicb]

I say around 50, I was over, but due to the gradient in the road it would have been fluctuating between 40, and 45, max 50. I know this.

If you take the speed out of the equation, what would your thoughts be, just out of interest?

I agree that they should for their own safety wear hi viz. I wear it when I hack out and my OH and sons are made to wear it when they cycle. We all (including visitors) wear hi viz waistcoats when we walk to the local pub half a mile away. I agree you do as a pedestrian/horse rider/cyclist need to take some responsibility. BUT people drive round country lanes like they are race tracks. Round here you are just as likely to come across a very wide tractor as a horse. The skid marks up the banks prove how many near misses there are. I'm not picking on you. But if each and every one of us thought about what might be round the next bend/over the next brow there would be a lot fewer accidents. (P.S. I do drive at 75/80 on a motorway, but really do my best not to speed round country lanes/30 mph speed limits - not sure I could live with the consequences of killing a horse/rider/child.)

 

[Nickijem]

I am sure we have all driven over the speed limit at one time or another and we get away with it. Then there is the odd time when something like that catches us out.
The riders should certainly have been wearing hi-viz in those conditions and needn't have responded with verbal abuse to an apology.
I am sure the OP has had a bit of a shock that will slow her down on that stretch of road at least. But hopefully this thread might remind us all to stick to speed limits and wear hi-viz when on the road.
So thanks for posting OP - and just take the critcism on the chin!

 

[gemin1eye]

so because they werent wearing adequate hi viz, what you were doing was ok was it? you were speeding down a road you know full well is used by several livery yards for hacking, in the dark and wet conditions and you dont think youre being unreasonable?

 

[JustKickOn]

I don't normally speed, and wasn't really thinking about the speed either. I am fully aware I was in the wrong, but on a straight road where visibility is usually very good, it didn't actually cross my mind that people would be riding on the road when it was dusk, bordering on getting dark, although whenever driving down that road, it is always in the back of my mind it is used by riders.
Personally, I felt if they had been more visible, I could have slowed down sooner, and a fair distance sooner too. To drop to a reasonable speed 20-30 would have taken a touch of my brakes.

so because they werent wearing adequate hi viz, what you were doing was ok was it? you were speeding down a road you know full well is used by several livery yards for hacking, in the dark and wet conditions and you dont think youre being unreasonable?

I didn't say it was ok, and have said what I was doing was wrong, and also very rarely done. It is used by riders yes, but not normally in such conditions or time. I don't feel I was entirely to blame, no. Yes, my driving was quick, but max 50, more around 45. I not trying to justify that at all. Bu as I wrote above, had the riders been more visible the situation could have been different, if that makes sense?

 

[Natch]

Ditto pedantic. And I think you are incredibly brave posting about speeding on HHO

 

[Pedantic]

Sounds like you the driver and the riders in the wrong, it's wet roads and going to be extra slippy due to dry roads suddenly becoming wet, your going faster than the speed limit instead of slower, and riders doing themselves or their horses no favours by being hard to see, maybe a learning curve for all, fortunately no harm done, you seem to understand your own failing which is commendable, pity about the riders attitude.

 

[nikicb]

I don't normally speed, and wasn't really thinking about the speed either. I am fully aware I was in the wrong, but on a straight road where visibility is usually very good, it didn't actually cross my mind that people would be riding on the road when it was dusk, bordering on getting dark, although whenever driving down that road, it is always in the back of my mind it is used by riders.
Personally, I felt if they had been more visible, I could have slowed down sooner, and a fair distance sooner too. To drop to a reasonable speed 20-30 would have taken a touch of my brakes.

I'm sure we all have had near misses in our driving lives - none of us are perfect. But please learn from this. What would have happened if that had been a stationary vehicle who had broken down completely/no hazards etc. and a car had been coming in the opposite direction. Doesn't bear thinking about really. Keep safe. xx

 

[JustKickOn]

And I think you are incredibly brave posting about speeding on HHO

If everyone commenting on this post, let alone the entire community of HHO, could say they have never ever sped on a road in their whole driving history, not even by 1mph, then I would be very impressed...

 

[Pidgeon]

OP I think some people are being a tad harsh on you.
I for one would have been surprised to come across riders in the conditions you describe with no or inadequate HiViz on, regardless of what speed you were doing.
We always wear HiViz whenever we go on the roads even in the height of the summer. Although not legal to do so I feel its morally right and safer for both me and my horse to do so. Having horses means driving down lots of country lanes and just think of the difference when HiViz is worn to when its not!

 

[diluteherd]

Although they werent possibly wearing enough hi-viz for the time of day, I read it as they did in fact have some on, so had made the effort, perhaps it was adequate for when they left the yard?

I dont agree with speeding non the less, and road conditions seem to also suggest that you should have been taking more care. Don't know what kind of weather you have had of late but if it had been the first rain after a dry period this makes the roads even more slippery.

The thought that maybe you werent watching the road enough ahead or taking into account the possible dangers of the dimming light, weather and possibility of horses on the road.

I think it was wrong of the riders to have a go, after all you stopped to apologise... not many will do that!

Take my hat off to you as well for coming on here and admitting to what happened!! lol! I personally would not have the goolies! lol xx

 

[flitz02]

Im sorry but we have ALL driven faster than we should....no great scandal & im sorry but anyone who says they havent ....is telling porkies!!!
It is my belief that all road users (Motorcyclists,cyclists,riders & walkers/joggers) should by law wear high Viz at all times whilst on a public road.I recentley had a very near miss with a cyclists who was wearing dark clothing and i was doing well under the speed limit!!!! Sounds to me as if they were lucky you are horsey & aware that they might have been on this road!.x

 

[Shadow the Reindeer]

No horse rider, be it trussed like a christmas tree, or not, appreciates a speeding car coming up behind them.. If on a sign posted road, please slow down, what ever the time, because people do ride out in the dark, for some, it's the only time they can due to work commitments..
I don't think they could have claimed insurance any way as the lack of decent fluorescent items on each horse, would have made the insurance company refuse to pay out..

 

[PeterNatt]

Well if it had been raining and the roads where slippery maybe you should have been doing less than the speed limit so say 30 m.p.h. which would have been 20 m.p.h less than what you where doing. Given the conditions if only for the safety of their horses they should both have been wearing long sleeved Hi-Viz jackets with a head band and additional Hi-Viz on both horses. You have learnt a valuable lesson but unfortunately the riders probably have not and will continue to put their horses at danger.