RANT- yet another dangerous driver encounter

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Luce1504

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I wasn't going to post this because there seems to be so many similar posts on here, but I'm sooo wound up and need to vent!!

Today was my first proper hack out, on my mare since xmas, which I have been really looking forward to. My friend was riding my other mare for me and we were happily plodding along, almost back home after an hours walking. We hear a vehicle approaching us very fast from infront, but there was a bend approx 250-300ft ahead of us so we couldn't yet see it.

Next news its the wagon that collects the recycling hurtling around the corner way way over the speed limit, its a 30mph area. My friend asked the wagon to slow down of which he would have had plenty time to do so, but instead he continued to accelerate further and absolutely flew past us- the road is fairly narrow so he was scraping against all the branches on the opposite side of the road in order to pass us and also as the wagon has very high mesh sides, they were rattling extremely loudly- both horses spooked, not surprisingly! and when my friend turned round the guy was gesturing out of his window at us!

I am absolutely furious, mainly because my horses are as (near as ever possible) 100% bombproof. I have in the past joked that I would ride them down the hard shoulder of the M6 if necessary! We had already ridden down a main A-road (with tractors and large lorries passing) and over a motorway bridge without incident. All of which just demonstrates the closeness and speed of which this vehicle passed us, in order to spook both horses.

Luckily when the horses spooked they just jumped sideways a bit into the hedge, but i would dread to think the outcome if it had been a young or spooky horse that this driver had passed.

p.s. also must add that both horses and both riders were kitted out in full high viz and that the particular stretch of road we were on also has "caution horse" signs as there are 3 large yards along it.

Cookies if you have got this far... and rant over with!
 
Report him to his employer/the council (if it's council recycling). They take their drivers driving very seriously, ours do anyway. Maybe a bollocking from his boss will make him wake up. If he was speeding and drove aggresively towards you, it's actually a matter for the police, (bearing in mind there are 2 witnesses on your side) either way, arseholes like that shouldn't be allowed to get away with it.

Fi x
 
You short report the incident to the council (assuming it was the council's recycling wagon), noting the date and time (and any of the registration number if you have it). They should be able to work out who the culprit was and hopefully give them a talking too.

Where I hack out we are near to one of the few recycling centres in the county that take all items for disposal, so wagons and the general public visiting the site are common, which doesn't make for relaxed hacking unfortunately.
 
I live in a very rural area with lots of narrow country roads. Unfortunately there is also a race track (motor) in the village so we get a lot of boy racers. They are by no means the only culprits. We have a lot of off road hacking but you have to do some road work to get there. Some people have no idea how to drive around horses. My friend and I were saying at weekend after yet another twonk raced past through a large puddle spooking both my horse that drivers should be shown pictures of the aftermath of an accident involving horses and cars. It might just make some of them think twice. I saw a car sticker that said cars dent horses die. How true.
 
I'm not 100% sure who does the recycling, but I will be able to check when I get home later as I've got the schedule of what to put out when, pinned up on my notice board, and it should say on that.

Unfortunately we didn't get a registration number as by the time we had got ourselves out of the hedge, and actually thought to look, it was too late.

Do you think I will achieve anything by reporting it? I wasn't sure they would take it seriously as nothing actually happened as a result (this time). But I would estimate that he passed us at a speed of at least 45mph in a 30 area, and I am surprised he didn't take my whip out of my hand- he was that close.

We had already encountered the proper bin wagon earlier in our ride, on a single track road and they politely waited while we trotted to find the nearest passing point.

Edited to say: I am useless at estimating speeds but thinking about it I would say he was probably travelling even faster than 45mph, as not many people stick to exactly 30mph and he was significantly faster than your average driver.
 
Please report report report! Boltonrider posted a really good leaflet on here a while ago to distribute to drivers. Maybe you could pm him/her and ask for it. Print a few off and put them in the reception of the race track. Maybe it'll prompt the f*ckers to slow down. Hope you are all ok x
 
Definately report it. If nothing else it will mean if it happens to any one else they will have a record of the incident. The operator of the lorry will have an idea of which driver it was.
 
yep defo report it. if the employer doesn't take it seriously tell them that the police will. There is the speeding, the fact that he was endangering other road users (you). breaching the highway code, scraping their lorry up against the trees, not to mention a bit of road rage in there too! nob!


you shouldn't need the registration number, if it's a rural area, they should know who was driving where on any given day, we know where our lorrys are at whatever time and therefore who is driving them.
 
Ok, I will definitely give them a ring then. It is a rural area with a very large horse population, I suppose its the what ifs that are bothering me more than the actual incident, as we are all fine. But I have ridden with friends on youngsters down that same stretch of road and also with much bigger horses which would have taken up more of the road and therefore would have been very likely to have been clipped by the wagon. It could have been a very nasty incident.
 
You should get a decent response - I reported a bus driver once, I didn't have the reg but I told the bus company where I encountered him (he ran me off the road while I was on my horse) and they were really apologetic. They assured me they would find him and he'd get dealt with. Ever since then there was a dramatic difference in the way bus drivers behaved towards me - they were super slow, said thank you - extra considerate. I've no doubt reporting him did the job.
 
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I saw a car sticker that said cars dent horses die.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes! My boys owner has one of those! She also has a 'Kill your speed not my horse' one and she kindly gave me one. They read a bit like a slap in the face and so they should, perhaps people will bother to listen. The red circle sticks out like a sore thumb on the back of my blue car and you can read it even without driving up my backside (another thing that makes me angry). I've also just purchased on Ebay a hi vis tabbard with that slogan on.

It makes me so angry!! People just have no clue how to drive around horses and I've even spoken to some who reckon that ignorance of the law is not their fault! Horses and how to drive around them are clearly in the theory tests/highway code.

Anyway my boy is very good with traffic but he's already a bit spooked out due to an incident with a deer jumping out at him, high winds, and having caught and cut his leg in the field. They wouldn't stop zooming past me and I was just trying not to let myself get tense.
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For the sake of other local riders may I ask you both to immediately go to ther police station and report this incident. Tell them you want an incident number as this will ensure it is recorded and put in the system.

Then report it in writing to the local authority. (Best to send a letter by recorded delivery so that their is no doubt they received it). Phone up the local council first to determine who you need to write to and their address.

Let us know how you get on.

Peter Natt BHS Volunteer Access/Bridleway Officer
 
[ QUOTE ]
Do you think I will achieve anything by reporting it? I wasn't sure they would take it seriously as nothing actually "
We had already encountered the proper bin wagon earlier in our ride, on a single track road and they politely waited while we trotted to find the nearest passing point."

[/ QUOTE ]

I would WRITE, so there is a record of it and take time to praise and thank the bin wagon too.
Then not all drivers will get a rollocking.
 
PLEASE report him both to the council and to the recycling firm. I used to work for a recycling firm and the drivers sadly can have terrible attitudes. By reporting him politely saying the time and place they can track who was driving and will probably give him a good telling off. The council should also know because they can complain to the company from their side too, and they keep a record of number of complaints and change suppliers if too many complaints. The company want to keep their contract, you and other horse riders want to keep your and your horse's LIVES, and the council want excuses to negotiate better rates for the following year!
 
I used to work for Biffa - we took it VERY seriously - because most are employed by your local council they cant afford NOT to.
The recycling lorries are usually only 4/5 per fleet - and they go on area - so they will know which lorry it was without a doubt.
 
There are so arrogant a***holes in the world it is unbelievable. Thank god none of you were hurt, like you I dread to think what could have happened if the horses had been spooky/young. I don't think there is anything that can be said that hasn't been said, just please report him to as many people as possible. I hope you get a decent response.
 
Definitely report it, to the police and to the council. Some idiots need telling.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to praise the regular bin lorry guys at the same time either.

Many years ago, I had to ride a horse home along a horrible stretch of road, when the lorry broke down, and the only vehicle to slow down was a beer tanker. When I eventually got home, I rang the brewery to tell them. I later found out the driver thought he was about to be sacked when he was called in to see the manager
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, but instead he got a bonus that month (the manager was my dad
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). But I hope the tanker driver still remembers that and still slows down for horses.
 
Thanks everyone, for your responses. I have found out which company operates the recycling contract in our area and I am going to contact all the relevant people tomorrow to get it reported.

I genuinely think the guy thought it was funny to send us sideways into a hedge but hopefully his boss can point out the fact that, had the horses not behaved as well as they did, he could easily have killed someone.
 
Unfortunately the Police don't really record a near miss which clearly this was but the BHS do so tell them about it and inform the recycling firm.

By all means ring the local nick and someone may go and give the firm/driver some stern advice. They won't take a report of careless/dangerous drivng without indepenent witnesses as you can imagine they get thousands of this type of complaint and it would be impossible to investigate all of them. However, if you manage to get hold of a sympathetic bobby, the driver's card will be marked and he will be 'dealt with' sooner or later!
 
[ QUOTE ]

Do you think I will achieve anything by reporting it? I wasn't sure they would take it seriously as nothing actually happened as a result (this time). But I would estimate that he passed us at a speed of at least 45mph in a 30 area, and I am surprised he didn't take my whip out of my hand- he was that close.

[/ QUOTE ]

wink.gif
Want to put the s**ts up them???
Get the details of the comany involved, ring up, and ask for the company insurance details and the name of the transport manager.
When asked why....tell them you were involved in a fail to stop incident involving the vehicle and driver...give date and time.... tell em the driver made obscene gestures and verbal remarks, then drove off at high speed.
Explain his driving forced you and horse into hege sustaining injuries and your going to pursue the matter thru your insurers...tell them you have independant witness to incident.....
say goodbye to driver(dismissal) and expect a pretty quick apology.....works every time....and you get the satisfaction of knowing the transport manager is fearing for his 'o' licence!!!
wink.gif
 
I think thats a little harsh - surely you are promoting more hatred towards horses and riders if you push for this man to lose his job?
I think a warning is quite enough myself.
 
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I like the way you think!
What if you don't have independent witnesses?

[/ QUOTE ]

They'll never know if you do or you don't!!
However the thought you MAY have should be enough to encourage some serious thinking time!!!

As for a warning..... people who behave like this, generally do not take heed of " a warning", they finally realise that they make mistakes....when some poor sod takes the brunt of the vehicle at high speed resulting in DEATH.....then they may think how they could have maybe had a little patience?!!?!!?
 
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