Riding both directions down a one-way street

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autumn7

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Hi all. Some may remember a posting from me back in February (I was depolga7 then) about being challenged by a woman as I rode my horse down a short one-way street from the "wrong" end in my Norfolk village. This led to a wealth of replies from HHO forumers regarding the legalities of such a move. Having been given some leads, I promised that I'd do some research into riders and one-way roads and would report back.

I have copied below, a chunk of response received over Easter from the BHS Regional Access Officer for Norfolk which I think makes the position very clear. Needless to say I am happy with this and shall now be continuing to use this route in both directions from time to time when I feel I have no other choice and shall be doing so with a clear conscience!

"......except in Greater London, the highway authority has no power to
regulate the direction of passage of a horse rider (or person leading a
horse, or a pedestrian) except on a footpath, bridleway or a byway that is
shown on the definitive map. So for ordinary roads that carry traffic, you
are legally entitled to ride contrary to the traffic flow (just as a person
can walk). Whether this is advisable or not is another matter (on which I
decline to offer advice having not seen the route)." BHS RAO Norfolk

I am unable to find a link to my original posting made around mid-Feb as this was before HHO revamped the forum but I got so much marvellous support for the cause at the time that I hope this clarifies the situation for anyone else out there in a similar situation.
 
I remember your original posting and thanks for sharing this.

It is one of those things which I think most of us do sometimes as it is the safer option, as in your case, but now we know we can legally do it :-)
 
Yes I remember this too. Good news.

We had a talk from the Police at a bridleway meeting and he had looked up the law and it seemed to him that horses don't even have to obey traffic lights, although a carriage would have to. Not that I am recommending going against a red traffic light!

It seems that there are many grey areas with horses and traffic law.
 
Well done Autumn7 for following it up and being vindicated! So glad for you as I remember the case with that awful person being downright rude to you! Hooray!
 
I do remember your original posting, and I knew that it was legal to drive a horse drawn carriage the wrong way under certain conditions. I appreciate the update, which I am not at all surprised about. thankyou.
 
I remember the post too, and thanks for clarifying this, it is really useful to know. I look forward to your post after you have met the horrid woman again:D
 
Thank you OP for taking the trouble to follow this up and post the outcome. I remember the original post as well. The mad woman was wrong :)
 
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