Hacking out near miss!!

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Loika

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I had a near miss out hacking on sunday. Bascially I was run off the road by a car towing a caravan! I had to jump on the verge to avoid him. I was trotting smartly up the road in a 50 limit and indicated to turn right, I had checked behind me and saw the caravan was some distance behind. I returned my hand to my reins and got ready to move over to make the turn. Luckerly I looked behind again to find the car and caravan 10m behind me still going at the same speed!! I had not choice but to get out of the way. I saw his face and he looked stoney, didn't even acknowledge me. His wife in the passenger seat grinned in embaressment, i think. I was furious!

I went home and checked the highway code and BHS riding road safety etc and discovered I had actually done everything exactly according to their advice/instructions. I was wearing a fluorescent tabard and hat band. I always shout thank you and smile at people who slow down for me, the big indicator is those whose eye I can't catch are going too fast. I have regular people who slow down and give me a big wave now, so i feel I have helped horsey people PR a bit! I am not an inconsiderate rider.

I have looked on the BHS site and plan to get some of the posters printed up to distribute around the caravan sites ready for next year's season, but this costs money. I have looked at other reflective clothing etc for me and my horse.

What else can I do? Has anyone had similar experience, what did you do? What do you wear, as I met two riders who where not wearing any fluorescent stuff at all.
 
Did you get his registration atall? I know its not easy when your riding but if you memorised it then I would be tempted to report the driver to the Police.
 
You poor thing, bet your heart was hammering after that! Hope you and your horse are OK.

I have had two similar experiences recently, although not as bad as yours! Drivers just tend to drive at me and my (very big) mare as if we are not there. She is very young and green and I am not very experienced so we have had quite a fright. It's resulted in me not wanting to hack on the road again, which is a major problem for me as I have nowhere else to ride, so will have to box everywhere. I wear a high vis jacket or tabard and my mare wears a pink hi-viz neckstrap, so you can't miss us. Really gutting, but people just don't seem to care :(
 
God some drivers are a nightmare :-( You didn't manage to get a reg then? I know its the last thing you're thinking about at the time! I don't know whether they expect the horses not to react much, or whether they just don't care either way?! You'd think most people would be pretty horrified if they caused harm or even fright to a horse and rider!

I think hi vis is about all you can do and I too thank pretty much everyone who makes an effort. I am thinking of getting a 'young horse in training' bib to see if that makes a difference..

Also I find turning round to look at them can help, but depends on speed and safety to do so!
 
Whether or not it would be helpful (and perhaps in this instance, it wouldn't be, might cause more harm but only you could decide that) you can actually report this type of thing to the police. I believe they 'have a word' if appropriate. They did with my ex-boyfriend when he was driving like an idiot round a housing estate.
 
Not that it will make any difference to the driver, but you can report it on the BHS website (think there is a sticky on HHO which has the link). This helps the BHS record all incidents and builds the case for road safety and education.

If you're all high-vized up, there isn't much more you can do. With bibs that say "young horse in training", I've heard apparently they're not a good idea as you then are kind of admitting liability in the event of an accident by taking a green horse out on the road.
 
In theory what you've done should be fine. In practice, in such situations I assume they aren't slowing down, so if I think I can't make the turn before their vehicle gets to me, I pull into the left and wait for both sides to be clear. Not ideal, but there are too many morons with a driving licence, as you've discovered!
 
No reg number, I was too angrey to even try! They were probably visitors so difficult for the local police to do anything. My experience of the police is not good, although I fully apreciate it depends on who you get on the phone etc.

Hey ho, will make sure I am always with my friend. Together we have less trouble!
 
I rang the police regarding a driver and was told "Unless you're willing to press charges there's nothing we can do..." they don't just go around talking to people who have given random number plates apparently :(
 
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