Road safety: slowing down drivers

[Kind horse lover]

My horse has recently moved to a new livery in Surrey on a busy road and to get to the hacking you have to ride along a busy ride. The speed limit is 30mph but some drivers are either not aware of this or don't care (there are no speed signs). There are a couple of blind corners getting to the hacking. Surrey County Council have already been lobbied by residents to reduce the speed limit through the village to 20mph but the council concluded that there were not enough accidents to justify this or the use of speed cameras. There are teenagers riding their ponies along this road and I would hate to think there would be an accident when I could have helped to prevent this. My horse is out of work so it doesn't affect me at the moment.

I'm thinking of putting some horse slow down horses signs on posts along the roadside. There is probably just enough room to do this.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? I've also contacted the BHS about their dead slow signs.

Thank you.

 

[Highmileagecob]

I would be wary of doing this, as you could be charged with putting up an unauthorised sign which may distract drivers.....The bare minimum is to dress horse and rider in as much day-glo colour as you can, especially hats (to be seen over the hedge) and the horse's hind quarters, legs and chest to ensure that drivers can see an alert at eye level. Dressing the rider is not enough, drivers look ahead not up. You could ask your council to put up 'beware horse and rider' signs. Do you have a local Bridleways group who could help you?

 

[Kind horse lover]

I would be wary of doing this, as you could be charged with putting up an unauthorised sign which may distract drivers.....The bare minimum is to dress horse and rider in as much day-glo colour as you can, especially hats (to be seen over the hedge) and the horse's hind quarters, legs and chest to ensure that drivers can see an alert at eye level. Dressing the rider is not enough, drivers look ahead not up. You could ask your council to put up 'beware horse and rider' signs. Do you have a local Bridleways group who could help you?

That's interesting about adding reflective wear to the horse's quarters, I hadn't thought of the drivers not seeing the rider first! I do have that for my horse, not sure if the kids do although of course they are much lower as only on ponies. I'll talk to their mum. She doesn't like them riding on the road but when she's not around they do it anyway - you know teenagers!

I doubt the council is interested: they received a 300-signature petition, wrote a report, then did nothing.

 

[JackFrost]

I'm assuming these teenagers are not themselves car drivers. There is a lot you can do as a rider to keep yourself as safe as possible, but it needs road sense - the experience of where to position yourself, lines of sight, anticipating where traffic come from and so on. I would suggest that their mums get them all on the BHS road safety course and start making them risk-aware and knowledgeable about how roads work. Teenagers and roads are not a good combination.... not to mention mobile phones .

 

[Griffin]

If you and the other riders at your yard download the BHS Horse i app (you don't need to be a BHS member), you can use it to record any near misses you have. I believe that the BHS analyse the data and share with the police, if there are enough incidents in an area, they can put signs up but they need the data first.

 

[soloequestrian]

A village near me recently changed to 20mph and they have put up a lifesize cutout of a policeman holding a speed camera beside the road on the way into the village. It gave me a start and I was doing the correct speed!
P.S. I never ride the horses there, maybe it's not a great idea in case it spooks them more than the cars!

 

[Kaylum]

You need permission to put any signs up on the road side. If you want some caution horse and rider triangles contact you local council.

 

[Tracking_up]

You need permission to put any signs up on the road side. If you want some caution horse and rider triangles contact you local council.

Yes, you need permission from Highways Authority for road signs, so that may also mean you need to approach the county council?

 

[misst]

As a long time Surrey resident I can honestly say almost no roads around my area are safe for horses. We live adjacent to a common and there is a yard down a small winding lane (no footpath and only just wide enough for 2 cars at a push) that opens onto my road. It has blind bends and is a 30mph limit but cars and lorries often do more. Most riders have someone on foot with them to slow traffic until they get to the bridle path. My daughter refused to ride on roads 15 years ago and I would worry if she tried again now. I know it's sad but even with high viz, signs, etc it is still dangerous. Locals are usually polite but delivery vans and lorries seem to rarely slow down. It is just too congested.

 

[Julia0803]

I could be wrong, so it’s probably best to check, possibly @PeterNatt would know, but my understanding is that you can’t put signs your up on public land, but you can on private land- eg in someone’s front garden/fence as opposed to the verge.

Certainly near me there are several different spots where someone has attached a 30mph or ‘slow down’ sign to their tree on their boundary, which you can see driving down the road. On the same thread, a local has put up a ‘ducks crossing’ sign on public land opposite their house, next to the pond on the village green. Another local hamlet has ‘cats crossing’ complete with picture on the verges outside their house (v narrow strip about 2ft wide so possibly privately owned). The duck one has been there at least 6 years, and I think the cats one even longer.

No idea of the layout of the area you’re in, but if lots of local residents have concerns then it might be a possibility.

 

[PeterNatt]

I would strongly recommend that riders ride out wearing long sleeved Hi-Viz jackers as this will help other road users to clearly see the riders hand signals.
In addition the horse should have Hi-Viz on its legs, bridle reins etc. and the rider should have a Hi-Vz hat band so that they can be seen over hedges.

I also advise wearing a Hat-Cam such as the Techalogic DC-1 which films both forwards and backwards at the same time. (If you order on the www.techalogic.co.uk and use the discount code PWAS1 you will get a 7% discount)!

Any incidents should be reported to the Police and insist that they give you an ‘Incident Number’ (so that you know it has been recorded on their systems database).
Most police forces now have a ‘Snap Portal’ where you can send in hat cam coverage. Check on : https://nextbase.co.uk/national-das...vFa_PnQDKOp32qyvuFZ7bJ4ewSEcZRiFl51xjDqfHA5Tw

Also report any incidents to the BHS Horse i App or www.horseincidents.org.uk web site as they collect statistics of horse related incidents, for statistical purposes which they need for when they are in discussions with central and local government to improve safety for Horse Riders and Carriage Drivers. For instance the Highways Departments of Local Authorities require statistical information to demonstrate issues and the statistics obtained from the App and Web site prove to be very useful.

In addition if you know of a number of incidents along this stretch of road you have the option of organising a Police ‘Slow Pass’ Operation along this stretch of road, which involves a ridden or driven horse being observed by Police Officers and any dangerous drivers are stopped and talked to.
To organise a Police Slow Pass Operation contact the Safety Department of the BHS H.Q.
Tel: 02476 840516 E-mail: safety@bhs.org.uk

Also when your local authority is reviewing or creating a new Neighbourhood Plan, District Plan, Local Traffic Plan, Local Walking Cycling Infrastructure Plan, Active Travel Plan or a Greenway Plan ask them to ensure that Equestrians (Horse Riders and Carriage Drivers) are included as ‘Vulnerable Road Users’ as they will then be compelled to introduce traffic calming or signage when requested to do so.

If you require any further asistance then E-mail me on peter.natt@btinternet.com

Good luck!