Goldenstar
Well-Known Member
Do you think that my one is ok?
As far as I can see you are admitting no liability by wearing your vest please carry on with my blessing.
Do you think that my one is ok?
The police ride two abreast!
Two horses are still narrower than one whole large vehicle's width and it forces traffic to wait for a genuinely safe place to overtake, more riders should do it as a matter of course. More motorists should also drive sensibly around blind bends in case there is a vehicle, cyclists, horses, scouts group, whatever coming around it the opposite way.
Police horses tend not to ride down narrow country lanes but built up, mostly pedestrianised areas of town/city centres.
Two horses may be more narrow than a car but they go slower. Rightly or wrongly I accept that most drivers do not expect to meet a horse in the middle of the road on a bend and for that reason alone I will not do it. All the rights in the world won't put me in the middle of the road, not worth the risk. There are very few places to overtake two horses on a country lane, which is why I pull my horses into the side and let people past.
I'm really not sure when everyone forgot that as a road user it is your responsibility to drive appropriately for the road conditions you are on. The speed limit is irrelevant in this case - if it's a truly blind bend you should be going round it slowly enough that you can stop if there is a hazard on the other side. What if someone had broken down round the bend? It's a shame horse riders feel that they should get out of the way when clearly it is the car drivers who are at fault for not taking the corner at an appropriate speed.
This happened to me recently - driving my lorry away from the yard down a single track national speed limit lane with many blind bends. I was going at about 10-15mph as I approached one of them. And thank god I was - a road cyclist flew round the corner, saw me, hit his brakes and lost control of the bike. Bike and person disappeared under the lorry as they slid down the road. But because I was driving at an appropriate speed for a blind bend on a national speed limit road, I was already stationary, and apart from some road rash and a few dents to his pride, the guy was ok (and also extremely apologetic!).
The only person whose responsibility it is to make sure they don't come round a corner and cannon into someone is the driver's - if you are going round a blind bend then you need to slow down, national speed limit or not!
OP how do you know the horse nearest the hedge wasn't a youngster likely to panic if a car came too close? How do you know if the horses were fully fit and well? For all you know they could have had arthritis or have been coming back into work after injury and not be able to trot on hard ground. So what if there's a queue of cars behind them? How do you know they wouldn't have pulled into a suitable gap or passing place further up the road and stopped to let the cars past? What does it matter that they were chatting, as long as the horses were under control and the riders aware of their surroundings? Horses have a right to be on the road and for whatever reason these two were doing what they thought best which included wearing hi-viz.
Unless I have misinterpreted the OP, it is about hurrying to clear a blind bend so that someone driving along who doesn't know you are there has more chance to slow/stop if required. It's no good taking the 'I am entitled to ride on the roads so why should I hurry to get out of the way' stance when you are just the other side of a blind bend and a driver who hasn't seen you previously, comes driving around at 40/50/60 mph. Surely, as possibly drivers yourselves, you can appreciate that a few extra yards reaction and braking time could be the difference between hitting someone or not? For that reason I prefer to take my safety seriously, take responsibility for myself and show some common sense and regard for other road users. I'd rather trot a few yards than risk a car up my back end.
What has wearing hi viz got to do with it ?
The police ride two abreast!
Two horses are still narrower than one whole large vehicle's width and it forces traffic to wait for a genuinely safe place to overtake, more riders should do it as a matter of course. More motorists should also drive sensibly around blind bends in case there is a vehicle, cyclists, horses, scouts group, whatever coming around it the opposite way.
I'm really not sure when everyone forgot that as a road user it is your responsibility to drive appropriately for the road conditions you are on. The speed limit is irrelevant in this case - if it's a truly blind bend you should be going round it slowly enough that you can stop if there is a hazard on the other side. What if someone had broken down round the bend? It's a shame horse riders feel that they should get out of the way when clearly it is the car drivers who are at fault for not taking the corner at an appropriate speed.
This happened to me recently - driving my lorry away from the yard down a single track national speed limit lane with many blind bends. I was going at about 10-15mph as I approached one of them. And thank god I was - a road cyclist flew round the corner, saw me, hit his brakes and lost control of the bike. Bike and person disappeared under the lorry as they slid down the road. But because I was driving at an appropriate speed for a blind bend on a national speed limit road, I was already stationary, and apart from some road rash and a few dents to his pride, the guy was ok (and also extremely apologetic!).
The only person whose responsibility it is to make sure they don't come round a corner and cannon into someone is the driver's - if you are going round a blind bend then you need to slow down, national speed limit or not!
I'm really not sure when everyone forgot that as a road user it is your responsibility to drive appropriately for the road conditions you are on. The speed limit is irrelevant in this case - if it's a truly blind bend you should be going round it slowly enough that you can stop if there is a hazard on the other side. What if someone had broken down round the bend? It's a shame horse riders feel that they should get out of the way when clearly it is the car drivers who are at fault for not taking the corner at an appropriate speed.
This happened to me recently - driving my lorry away from the yard down a single track national speed limit lane with many blind bends. I was going at about 10-15mph as I approached one of them. And thank god I was - a road cyclist flew round the corner, saw me, hit his brakes and lost control of the bike. Bike and person disappeared under the lorry as they slid down the road. But because I was driving at an appropriate speed for a blind bend on a national speed limit road, I was already stationary, and apart from some road rash and a few dents to his pride, the guy was ok (and also extremely apologetic!).
The only person whose responsibility it is to make sure they don't come round a corner and cannon into someone is the driver's - if you are going round a blind bend then you need to slow down, national speed limit or not!
... to ride two abreast on the far side of a blind bend on a 60mph road.
Yesterday evening I was apalled to see two mounted ladies taking up the whole road just the other side of one of the most dangerous corners in the area. Far from trying to clear the road, they were in a leisurely walk with a queue of cars behind them. They seemed oblivious to the risk of someone ploughing into the back. Bright pink or otherwise, they were a liability.
I have to ride that corner from time to time with the children, and we trot like billy-o to put as much distance between us and the corner before something comes along behind. Surely that's just common sense?
The BHS run a riding and road safety certificated course and the Pony club incorporate a similar course as part of the C test.For the record, it is considered inadvisable to trot on bends and corners and you will fail both courses if you do. The course encourages riders to take an active part in controlling the traffic
I'm really not sure when everyone forgot that as a road user it is your responsibility to drive appropriately for the road conditions you are on. The speed limit is irrelevant in this case - if it's a truly blind bend you should be going round it slowly enough that you can stop if there is a hazard on the other side. What if someone had broken down round the bend? It's a shame horse riders feel that they should get out of the way when clearly it is the car drivers who are at fault for not taking the corner at an appropriate speed.
This happened to me recently - driving my lorry away from the yard down a single track national speed limit lane with many blind bends. I was going at about 10-15mph as I approached one of them. And thank god I was - a road cyclist flew round the corner, saw me, hit his brakes and lost control of the bike. Bike and person disappeared under the lorry as they slid down the road. But because I was driving at an appropriate speed for a blind bend on a national speed limit road, I was already stationary, and apart from some road rash and a few dents to his pride, the guy was ok (and also extremely apologetic!).
The only person whose responsibility it is to make sure they don't come round a corner and cannon into someone is the driver's - if you are going round a blind bend then you need to slow down, national speed limit or not!
I'm really not sure when everyone forgot that as a road user it is your responsibility to drive appropriately for the road conditions you are on. The speed limit is irrelevant in this case - if it's a truly blind bend you should be going round it slowly enough that you can stop if there is a hazard on the other side. What if someone had broken down round the bend? It's a shame horse riders feel that they should get out of the way when clearly it is the car drivers who are at fault for not taking the corner at an appropriate speed.
This happened to me recently - driving my lorry away from the yard down a single track national speed limit lane with many blind bends. I was going at about 10-15mph as I approached one of them. And thank god I was - a road cyclist flew round the corner, saw me, hit his brakes and lost control of the bike. Bike and person disappeared under the lorry as they slid down the road. But because I was driving at an appropriate speed for a blind bend on a national speed limit road, I was already stationary, and apart from some road rash and a few dents to his pride, the guy was ok (and also extremely apologetic!).
The only person whose responsibility it is to make sure they don't come round a corner and cannon into someone is the driver's - if you are going round a blind bend then you need to slow down, national speed limit or not!
I'm not sure why hi viz was mentioned in the title of this thread as it clearly isn't the main issue here but maybe the OP wanted to re-start the hi viz debate again...
I only give signals if they are relevant to my control of my horse, for instance straight road good width no on coming traffic car coming from behind at fiftyish mph if they start to slow I may wave them on as I dont need them to crawl past
Or I will give a signal to slow down If I need them to but I don't tell them it's safe to overtake on bends it's not my responsibility to decide if theres space for a car to go past.
As a driver I totally ignore riders telling me its safe to pass on bends if I can't see I don't go of course if a rider indicates they wish me to stop I do but that's different .
Really not:/
As I said before, it struck me that these were responsible adults, clearly safety aware (hence the hi viz), but presenting a real life-threatening hazard to other road users.
It's interesting to see from the responses here - all from thoughtful intelligent adults - that there are a real range of opinions and tactics to try to keep ourselves alive.
I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all. Riding 'out of the hedge' to be seen is valid. So is riding two abreast to present a visual barrier and make cars think about their speed.
Sometimes I'll ride on the wrong side of the road on a narrow lane to get 50yds additional line of sight on a dodgy bend (especially if the kids are behind me). In fact there's one steep hill near me where the only safe approach is probably to ride into the traffic on the RHS, as though you were a pedestrian. That way if a car has to weigh anchor suddenly at least they're going uphill...
If provoking debate makes one person ride or drive safer, it's worth doing.