Riding on the roads and traffic...... Rant

TicTac

TicTac

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Do you ask drivers to slow down by waiving your arms or such like or even riding two abreast in certain circumstances?

I actually managed to get out for a quick hack one day last week with my daughter on her horse who takes the lead. We were riding on the road through our village and both horses were 'keen' due to the weather conditions and lack of regular excercise of late. I could hear a car coming at speed from behind me and I could also sense that at any moment my daughters horse was going to spook right out into the middle of the road due to a hazzard he had spotted. I had started to waive politely at the car driver to slow down but he took no notice untill he had to slam on the brakes as my daughter's horse shot out into the road. The driver stopped his car. At this point, rightly or wrongly I shouted at the driver telling him that I wasn;t asking him to slow down because I wanted to read his personal number plate but because I could see what was going to happen! He answered back with the usual crap that drivers give.

I am fed up with being made to feel that I shouldn't be on the road ( and if I can help it I won't) and that a polite request in the form of a waive to slow down was ignored. Granted that not all drivers are inconsiderate, but most seem to find it increasingly difficult to distinguish to brake from the accelerator when passing horses.

I personally think that vehicle drivers should be taught to have far more respect for us horse riders in it's simplest form by slowing down and passing WIDE.
 
Some people are so inconsiderate!

I do ask people to slow down. On my first yard my YO used to ask cars to slow down with the whip in her hand sticking out (also wore a please pass wide and slow reflective, v bands etc) and if the car went to fast and close to her she used to slap her hunting crop down as hard and fast as she could on the roof of the car, often leaving a dent! I was only 10 or 11 yrs old at the time but i distinctly remeber people getting out of their cars and yelling at her and her yelling back with such abusive words!! We always came off best but when my mum finally hacked out with her she came back and instantly banned me from hacking with her ever again..... something about the YO being a mentally deranged lunatic was the excuse
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Needless to say now i take the calmer approach and if someone goes to fast i discreetly swear and carry on as if nothing ever happened!
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Sorry got to love your come back about personalised number plate, good on you! Hopefully they will think twice next time.

Drives me mad and I will now rather not hack out at all than go on roads. They don't seem to understand that they aren't just going to annoy your horse a bit by going fast, but could actually kill you!!
 
you weren't wrong at all they chose to ignore you!
i've personally just started driving and the world out there is a LOT different to the world when you're a learner, respect comes very rarely. it's like a competition to be the biggest pr*ck.

i had the same instance of being told to get off the road by someone whose dog barked at my gee gee incesently from a garden at eye level to us. i ended up just going and standing outside their house waiting for them to come out until they actually learnt the lesson that we have to use roads to get onto bridleways!

i'm glad it wasn't worse as you could've both been hurt.
 
I agree that motorists should understand the signals we use to ask them to slow down or stop or indicate which direction we are turning.They are afterall in the highway code,but it seems that drivers never get tested on them.Perhaps that is where the fault lies, because drivers knpw they are unlikely to be asked about them in their test they don't bother to remember them once they pass and after all let's face it...how many of us bother to look at the highway code book after passing our test.
I have had a close run with a foreign lorry driver who totally ignored us and sped past us despite desparate pleas to slow him down,resulting in both mine and my hacking buddies horses ending up jumping a barbed wire fence,had my leg brushed by a passing small truck resulting in the horse becoming scared of lorries,had a dustcart continue past albeit slowly after I had asked him to stop because I was on a young horse and my friends horse didn't like them who then proceeded to tell me he didn't know what I was asking him to do. Numerous other incidents over the years with traffic ranging from mopeds,one of which ended up in a ditch after he decided it was safe to pass me when I had asked him to wait and he thought it okay to squeeze through a 6ft gap between the hedge and the horse,a horse bolt on me after a tractor driver thought it funny to rev his engine behind me in his impatience to pass.Actually looking back on all those things I do wonder why i hack out lol.
 
i had exactly the same situation a few weeks back.i was on a bike with daughter on horse.as our local lanes are single track most people slow down and are sensible.one man in transit van was racing and i put hand up and asked him to slow down,his response was to speed up and gesticulate rudely obviously very miffed with me for daring to request he slow up.daughters horse spooked,combination of wet road,fast van and reduced riding.shock horror 5 minutes later he came back and still furious i planted myself in the middle of the road to stop him and confronted him explaining that i only wanted him to slow down explaining why.he was very agressive and told me we shouldnt be on the road if the horse isnt safe which she is apart from when confronted by idiots. sorry rant over havent seen him since but even brilliant traffic proof horses can spook and it is something that really annoys me.by the way i am always very courteous to good drivers and also get cross with other riders who dont say thank you and give the rest of us a bad name.
 
Don't start me on this one
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I have not asked many drivers to stop, as my 2 are brilliant on the roads ....

However the 2 problems I recall, were a '10 year old' driver of the biggest Tractor et all on a very narrow and little used country road, not stopping when I clearly had my hand up in the air, using the correct request to stop and in the end I restorted to shouting at the top of my voice, and to be honest I still to this day, do not think he understood the command
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The 2nd, which was in the last couple of months, was in the quietest most rural Village, where everyone is considerate, normally
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. I was out with my friend who was walking out her horse that is on box rest with ridden exercise, so was a bit concerned when a small bus, with a lady driver (thought she may have been more considerate
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) came towards us. So on my friend's request, I put my hand up to ask her to stop, but oh no she was not going to stop for a mere woman on a horse and promptly drove past, with a bus full of OAP's ..... now in my thinking, she should have had more understanding than the 10 year old Tractor driver, as she in theory would have had more advanced tuition, due to driving a PSV ........
 
Same thing happened to my Mum recently with a motorbike - he ignored her arm-waving carried on right into the horse which spooked, depositing him and his bike in the ditch! This is only funny because none of them was hurt as a result.

I honestly think a lot of motorists don't know that the 'arm waving' signal means 'slow down' and therefore think you're just waving at them to show your there or whatever.

I have a technique that works every time on all road users which I use in such circumstances where I 'need' the driver/rider to stop or something bad is going to happen.

Look the driver straight in the face (turn all the way round in the saddle if they're behind you) and put you hand out with a palm facing straight towards them in the universal 'stop' sign. This is a sign everyone knows and if given confidently and combined with eye contact they cannot fail to understand you. Most people get this message and realise you need them to 'stop' not just 'slow down a bit' and the majority will do it.

Try it next time!
 
I do think drivers are rude and ignorant at times but I also think that sometimes they do not understand rider's hand signals to be honest.

If I want to stop a car approaching from behind I put my arm backwards and use the palm of my hand held high up and faced to the oncoming vehicle in effectively a 'stop' sign. This usually works. I do not normally try and wave a car to slow down - waving your arm usually is to slow a car approaching towards you i believe. I generally find it pretty ineffective to be honest as, if they haven't already started slowing down as they've seen you then your arm probably isn't going to make them and leaves you without two hands on the reins so with less control.

It is frustrating when people drive dangerously and without thought for other road users and I have had my run ins in the past but nowadays i try not get too wound up, i just concentrate protecting myself and my horse.
 
I'm still recovering from 3 fractures and a dislocation in my wrist after a driver failed to slow down dispite being signalled to do so. The B*****d didn't even stop, he must have seen me in the road and my horse running free. Just hope I don't happen to see him again, it certainly wont be me in hospital next time!!!!!! RANT RANT RANT
 
if motorists actually knew basics of highway code, they'd understand signals, re-tests should defo be introduced!!!!!!
 
My best was on top a motorway bridge, not highered sides, so tend to aim for middle of my lane or the white line. good visibility either side, country road. Elderly lady driver coming towards, asked to stop 3 times didnt, snuck past non existant gap, tapping my whip as she went. Thankfully pony was a saint, I hate the bridges more him!

hand waving to slow down is pointless noone understands it, many think you are waving them on, and if it doesnt work then you run out of time to ask someone to stop if you need to.

Most of our locals are fab though
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It makes me so cross drivers like this! Taxi drivers are my worst .. when I first got Gypsy we was riding through the village, and she hadnt seen then pond before and the sun was reflecting onto it. She started to nap at which point there was no cars on the road .. then a taxi appears and comes right up to us at which point I asked the taxi to stop and he just got closer and closer faster and faster then I was about 2inches from ending up on his car bonnet! He kept trying to scare Gypsy by his horn etc which at that point couldnt quite jump off without not being able to hold onto her quick enough! Why are people on the roads if they have no respect for others that are also on the roads :@:@:@
 
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if motorists actually knew basics of highway code, they'd understand signals, re-tests should defo be introduced!!!!!!

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Would also be handy if many horse riders knew the correct arm/hand signals.

As a car driver I see the ignorance of horse riders. As a horse rider I see the ignorance of car drivers.
 
I was out walking my 2 yearlings before christmas, had friend leading each one and auntie behind and me infront, saw a police car coming towards us behind another car, and gave the arm signal to slow down well the car did and the 2 policepeople in their car eventually did but looked at e with the filthesy look ever.
Not sure if the driver of the police car even knew what the signal meant, and if they dont know what hope do we have
 
Shall we get onto lack of hi viz, maybe it's the same people/arseholes who drive a dark car when it's a grey drizzly day with a grey sky and the road is black or grey and they dont have a single light on just because it's not quite lighting up time, might make the bulbs last a bit longer, they dont work too well when the front of the vehicle is smashed to bits either, when another motorist in a hurry on his phone/satnav/ billion watt stereo/scratching their genitals/picking their nose ( could be all of them at the same time) didn't look properly and pulls out straight in front of them
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I know, my mare is pretty good with a bit of traffic but when you get an ass coming up at serious speed as I had on sunday it made my poor mare jump, idiot. It is people like that that make a horse lose confidence, she 'looked' at the next few cars, then settled a bit thankfully. Makes me furious, alot seem to go past pretty quick which my mare is pretty good about considering her having very little traffic experience in her first 10-12 yrs with me as we lived in the depths of wales.
Anyway, just wanted to join your rant, imbeciles is putting it politely!
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Oh and i forgot to add, its the people I least expect to slow down that do! I find boy racers and men in vans are on the whole the most considerate bunch around my neck of the woods!
 
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Oh and i forgot to add, its the people I least expect to slow down that do! I find boy racers and men in vans are on the whole the most considerate bunch around my neck of the woods!

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I find the same applies in my neck of the woods too
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The worst culprits are the young girls, driving around the lanes really fast, they see you and then drive past as if they haven't
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..... whereas the boy racers, slow down really quickly, turn their radio off and put their hand over their mouth and are really apologetic
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A driver leapt out of the car to give me a b....... one day, after I had given him a filthy look (and gesture) as he shot past me and my dauger one day.

I deflated him completely by saying "I was so frightened." He then went on to be quite pleasant . I think if I had shouted he would have shouted back.

It is true that the drivers who don't take any notice are either a) dreaming, b) don't understand, c) don't care.

As for lorry drivers - one got stuck in our lane before Christmas, this was after ignoring and passing at least 3 "No HGV" signs. It is quite entertaining for the locals to see the lorries trying to reverse their huge lorries OUT of the bends they have got themselves stuck in. Not so funny if you are the other side trying to come past.
 
the motorcylist that wobbled in between us at 2mph, got whacked with a whip. He was about an inch off my leg, and I was not impressed

I've also had a bus come round a blind bend too fast, it touched my leg. Clever, brave pony didn't even flinch

oh and the time when horsey decided a drain was scary, and we reversed sideways at extreme speed. Despite my frantic waving and universal "I have no control, and am not doing this for kicks signals" a driver continued to aim at me at approx 40mph

on the upside, there was the 30+ motorbikes that stopped and switched off their engines after horse had a meltdown - don't hack round Rivington on a Sunday!

and the old lady that said "Don't worry, that looked fun" after ex racer set off, locked onto a park bench, and jumped it. Said old lady was sat on the park bench at the time, I had to shout that I couldn't stop
 
I have to say the worst drivers in my opinion I middle-aged women! They do not seem to know what to do when they see a horse/horses at all. As i said before though I just make sure i have control of my horse. If I think someone isn't going to stop or feel my horse is going to spook at something just at that moment the car's going to past (how do horses choose this moment?s!) the I just ride defensively and do not take my hands off the reins to attempt to slow the driver.

I agree with Donklet - many riders do not use correct or clear hand signals. Also many riders do not seem to give enough space for cars to pass. Ok, fair enough, you are allowed to ride 2 abreast but, if a car's coming and the road is not very wide then just go back to single field for that moment. There are many riders round us who continue two abreast really not giving room for a car to pass with enough space. Sure, maybe their horse won't spook but I, as a driver and rider do not know that and, if it did spook as I was passing then no doubt it'd be MY fault when in fact what the rider should maybe have done is gone single file to give ample room for the car to pass.

There's no point having a tabard saying "please pass wide and slow" if you are not giving adequate space for a driver to do so.

It works both ways.

Speeding drivers may never learn but it won't help you to get mad at them. Just try make sure you're not the 'thing' that makes them realise their poor driving the hard and tragic way. Thank the courteous drivers, ignore the others!!!
 
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As a car driver I see the ignorance of horse riders. As a horse rider I see the ignorance of car drivers.

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This.

To be honest on the rare occaison I need to ask someone to slow down, I just put my hand up, palm outwards and ask them to stop. Learnt the hard way that waving your arm up and down is meaningless to most drivers.
 
I don't think I could have been any clearer in asking the driver of a lorry with flappy plastic on its back to STOP. When he peeled me off the floor after the accident he caused he said he'd "seen my signal to slow down and had done so".

YOU DIDN'T SLOW DOWN VISIBLY, I WAS LOOKING FOR IT, AND IT WASN'T A SIGNAL TO SLOW DOWN, IT WAS STOP!! THERE WAS PLENTY OF TIME!

This to a driver who apparently had horses of his own.
 
I got a high viz police surplus jacket for christmas, its been the greatest thing for slowing people down, I have also been asked if I'm the actual police whilst wearing it, sadly not yet!
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
As a car driver I see the ignorance of horse riders. As a horse rider I see the ignorance of car drivers.

[/ QUOTE ]

This.

To be honest on the rare occaison I need to ask someone to slow down, I just put my hand up, palm outwards and ask them to stop. Learnt the hard way that waving your arm up and down is meaningless to most drivers.

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Yes, I agree, I find alot of horse riders do not bother saying thank you when I slow right down as I do understand being an owner and rider myself. Its infuriating and gives the rest of us a bad name when they do not bother to be courteous to drivers.
Alot of drivers and riders do not have a clue so it seems!
 
I always ask large vehicles near us to slow down, and to be fair most of them do. Some even stop when i am only asking to slow down, but many just slow down when i am asking to stop. I suppose this is better than nothing and as long as they have not caused ned to go bonkers i still thank them. Lots even stop as soon as they see us (always wear hi vis!) and wait for a good couple of minutes til we have passed, which always makes me smile for the rest of the day
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Many still do not though. Some barge through a narrow space where there is an island which really pees me off and sends the lad bonkers, understandably! These get a rude gesture depending on their speed- many don't even slow down on a 40+ road grrr

A motorbike ignored my requests to stop a few weeks ago, as i could sense that Osc was going to have a stupid spook at a parked van he had his eye on, probably just as the motorbike overtook. This guy thought he would ignore me and just slow down a bit- all very nice, cheers- apart from Osc spooked sideways and nearly knocked him over
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i'd like to say that'l teach him but i'm not daft! I'll have to make do with feeling smug.

And i don't think it's that they don't understand- it's not difficult to know what a hand held palm flat facing you and a stern face means. I'll bet if it was a police man they would understand well enough
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FWIW i always use correct hand signals for turning and signaling, and i wear hi vis gloves so there's no excuse
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I think the worst bit of driving past horses was at the year before lasts christmas ride
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Twenty or so horses, split into groups of 8 riding down the main A640, all in magnificent, colourful and downright bonkers fancy dress
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cue some gormless gits passing by driving on the wrong side of the bollards as they could not wait the few seconds it took us to get to the clearer bit of road! This was on a Sunday afternoon, where were they going in such a rush?
The best drivers locally are our bus drivers, they are wonderful and we have e-mailed them more than once to thank them
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The others tend to be motorbike riders, as my ex's brother (a bike rider for many years) used to say, 'I don't want half a ton of horse landing on me and my motorbike, it would hurt me and damage the bike'
 
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