Learning to drive and horse awareness

Derfette

Derfette

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Last weekend a friend and her young daughter suffered a nasty accident with a car towing an empty boat trailer. Thankfully, after being checked out at our local hospital, both were relatively ok. The police are investigating as the car driver was a local man who, like alot of people was travelling way too fast!! Do you think anyone learning should be taught how to drive respecfully and safely around horses and for it to made a part of the driving test? I learnt to drive over 20 years ago and back then there was only a very small section in the Highway Code describing how to react around horses. I think that if someone is taught at this early stage of their driving days, many accidents could be prevented!!
 
For BHS riding and road safety we had to watch some pretty harrowing video clips of road accidents where horses were fatally injured and the owners/riders/drivers talking about what happened. It was awful, really upsetting. It would be great if some of this footage was included in driver training in some way or another, like a compulsory Pass Plus style training day. Some people have just no idea of the danger they are putting us and themselves in when they drive inconsiderately. x
 
It's a shame vulnerable road users aren't advertised more. My poor mother worried herself sick! I ride, my brother and father cycle and my father also rides a motorbike.
We've all had very near misses, despite being head to toe in hi-viz.

I don't get why there isn't more awareness. Usually it takes a few deaths, then something is done. How many riders and bikers have died? Probably thousands! Not to mention the poor animals.

So many uneducated and just plain rude people on the road :(
 
Yes, it should be compulsory. I had a driving instructor drive past me way too close and fast not long ago!

I have a youngster. We always go out with somebody on the ground, all of us decked out in hi vis, and despite us waving down faster cars none slow down :( my poor horse is getting worried by cars now. Hopefully I'm moving to a yard with totally off road hacking soon though!

J&C
 
Horse and rider awareness should definately be part of learning to drive, even be made part of the theory test! Sadly, sometimes it doesn't matter how much hi-viz the horse or rider is wearing, drivers are just oblivious to it and drive fast regardless!!! Educating people has got to begin at the start, when they're learning to drive!!
 
I think it is already a question that can come up on the theory.

I think what is really needed most is more awareness of what arm signals mean.
 
I certainly teach animal awarenss, and dog walker awareness as well as cyclist awareness. Majority of my learners are rural kids, they often ride, cycle or walk so are very aware of what could be round the next bend. We do a lot of narrow country lanes, and they tend to all be very respectful of them ignoring the national speed limit signs as they know the roads are just not safe for that speed. The ones who I think would be the problems would be those who do no rural driving, who spend their life in towns. certainly I have some clients in Exeter and they have to do rural driving for their test routes and they have no idea at all. it never enters their head that dogs, horses, cows and sheep all use the roads, that tractors can pull out on them, that round the bend could be a whole herd of milkers. We are probably one of the few cities that has rural elements. I suspect many many people learn to drive and never see a rural road.

In the theory tests there are questions on horses, cyclists, just not everyone gets them. I know one of the hazard perception tests has a flock of sheep!

You get unthinking idiots everywhere and I suspect a high percentage of drivers would never pass their driving test if they took it again. Everyone who takes their driving test will forget a huge amount of the highway code, I am often astounded by the total lack of knowledge in someone who has just passed their theory test. They blank it.

We do teach hand signals, but some riders are hopeless at showing the correct ones. and some drivers just ignore them.

drivers are taught to drive defensively, give way to others, consider vulnerable road users, but we cannot teach tossers how to be non tossers, unfortunately they are bred like that, and until we can add in sterilisation into our driving test they will continue to breed.
 
I never once came accross a Horse whilst in one of my lessons. Luckily for me, I know how to pass Horses saftley anyway, so was never an issue, when I did come accross a Horse for the first time.

However about a year ago my sister rung me, she was stuck behind a Horse and rider and wasn't sure wether to overtake or not and wanted advice. She has no clue about Horses and really didn't have a clue what to do.

It did come up in my theory test though. But only a couple of questions.

I have emailed Think! before to ask wether they could do a new campign. I never received an answer.
 
It would be hard to incorporate into a practical test and like others have pointed out, people learn the highway code but don't necessarily put it into practice when they've passed.

I think maybe as the theory test is electronic nowadays they should show a compulsory video at the end of the test showing images of what can happen if you have a collision ie. with horse, bike, wall etc... shock tactics may make people think about hazards instead of "theoretically this is what i do"

I emailed the BHS a while back asking why there aren't any campaigns currently and they basically said no funding - it costs a hell of a lot. However, they did point out they know there are lots of accidents that don't get reported and urge people to report and incidents via the link on their website (its been put on a sticky in one of the forums). They want to get an accurate image of accident rates so hopefully they can do something about it
 
I definitely think there should be more "horse" information in driving tests. I know that when I was learning to drive, I was never told anything about horses & nothing came up on my theory, and apparently the question that does is so ridiculously obvious that anyone can guess it without thinking. I mean for most people it's common sense to pass wide and slow, but for the more "townie" types or people who have no experience with horses, they have no idea how a horse can react - and don't understand that a horse doesn't just walk in a straight line, they don't necessarily know that a horse will be nervous of some vehicles and not others, they might not know that a horse can be spooked by "nothing" in a hedge - just simple things like that should be brought into it. I also agree that more emphasis should be put on learning the hand signals.
 
I'm all for education but learner drivers are expected to learn the highway code - if driving instructors had to teach every aspect from the highway code then they would be raking in the money for lessons!

I think when you look at the rate of horse accidents compared to those where cyclists or motorcyclists have been injured by drivers its quite low and therefore focus will always be placed on these.

The only thing that can be improved is emphasising in the highway code the dangers of passing a horse too fast/too close. If the learner driver doesn't come across a horse in the road, what can they do?
 
Bosworth said:
we cannot teach tossers how to be non tossers, unfortunately they are bred like that, and until we can add in sterilisation into our driving test they will continue to breed.
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tazzle said:
awareness and compliance and two entirely different things ;)
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Both.

It's already in the HWC, it comes up in theory and HP tests and is supposed to be covered in lessons where possible and can come up in tests. What more can they do?

Problems are more frequently caused by people just ignoring the rules - and I don't just mean car drivers, "vulnerable" road users are just as bad. As someone who drives a lot, I find constant bike and motorcycle safety campaigns infuriating as every day I get bikes cutting up the inside of traffic, filtering through inappropriate gaps, ignoring red lights and motor cycles cutting through tiny gaps between traffic on the motorway - over taking on the inside and other stupid acts.

I follow the rules of the road in my car, so I don't see why I should constantly be made to feel guilty for the number of accidents caused by idiots ignoring those rules - whether those idiots be in cars, on bikes or motorbikes. I would be very surprised if some drivers didn't feel the same about horse rider safety campaigns too...
 
JustFindingTheDecorations said:
Both.

It's already in the HWC, it comes up in theory and HP tests and is supposed to be covered in lessons where possible and can come up in tests. What more can they do?

Problems are more frequently caused by people just ignoring the rules - and I don't just mean car drivers, "vulnerable" road users are just as bad. As someone who drives a lot, I find constant bike and motorcycle safety campaigns infuriating as every day I get bikes cutting up the inside of traffic, filtering through inappropriate gaps, ignoring red lights and motor cycles cutting through tiny gaps between traffic on the motorway - over taking on the inside and other stupid acts.

I follow the rules of the road in my car, so I don't see why I should constantly be made to feel guilty for the number of accidents caused by idiots ignoring those rules - whether those idiots be in cars, on bikes or motorbikes. I would be very surprised if some drivers didn't feel the same about horse rider safety campaigns too...
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^^ This ^^

I live on a very popular route for bikers, they travel from far and wide to ride up it and so the road is covered in "THINK BIKE" posters, when it would be far more appropriate to have "Bikers, think about your own personal safety before overtaking/undertaking/travelling in excess of 100mph/tailgating etc"

Some riders are as bad, going out without hi-viz, failing to signal, using headphones, not being aware of other road users etc.
 
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