road users- wont listen!!

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storm123

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when im riding on the road, drivers dont listen to me at all, i make clear obvious simple sympols, and they still dont listen, yes, i've done my road saftey test and passed, and know all the signels off by heart, but they just dont listen, the other day, a car wooshed past me and my horse at about 50mph, i could hear them approaching, and stuck my arm out with my whip in my hand, but they completly ignored me, they even noticed my horse having a fit at the side of the road, it happens quite a lot?
what the hell do i do?
 
I honestly dont think drivers understand the signals riders use, others just dont give a monkeys. I have had alot of near misses, yet both my horse and i are decked out in hivis and very obvious.
 
rascal said:
I honestly dont think drivers understand the signals riders use, others just dont give a monkeys. I have had alot of near misses, yet both my horse and i are decked out in hivis and very obvious.
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its riduclous! the amount of times its happened, i litterly dress up as a christmas tree now, still doesnt work!

just watched your video, very sad:(
 
storm123 said:
and stuck my arm out with my whip in my hand
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As in asking them to stop? I generally find people ignore that request! Even when I tried to tell someone to 'stop' when they were going to try and overtake me and I could see a car was coming in the opposite direction.

I find generally doing the arm waving up and down 'slow down' signal and in the extreme circumstances matching this with an exagerrated "slow down" said verbally works most times. Think seeing someone frantically flapping away shocks them a bit!
 
storm123 said:
im very sorry, looks like such a loyal, beautiful horse, i know what its like to loose a horse, but you had yours for much longer! thoughts are with you. x x
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Thanks, he was a rescue horse, we bought him off Bodmin moor as a very neglected two year old. The ones that were with him went for meat, but we couldnt have them all.
 
When you did your R&R safety did they tell you about making eye contact with drivers? Many drivers don't understand the 'flappy' arm signal to slow down - they should but they don't!

I find that if I look at them and hold a hand up in the universally accepted stop signal, like a copper :D it is much more effective. They're now watching you and waiting to see what happens next which is so much safer.

There will always be some numbnuts who make it a matter of pride to not slow down so you have to ride defensively to beat them. Don't hug the kerb, always ride a foot or two into the road. You'll be easier to see especially after a bend and you'll have an escape route if some one comes too close. At junctions, take the middle of your lane so cars can't get along side you and have to wait behind. In other words, position yourself so that you can control other vehicles to a point. The other very important bit to remember is that when you do this you also have a responsibility IMHO to not cause unnecessary delays for other road users so trot on when you can, pull over and always, always say thank you.

Hat cams also seem to calm down some drivers as they know all about them now due to cyclists using them...

I used to drive horses on road a lot and some of the stunts drivers pulled had to be seen to be believed!
 
Even though I regularly ride on roads, & always have done, tbh I very rarely feel the need to signal to drivers anyway. Exceptions would be thanking them or waving one on etc. Odd time there's been a problem, whether its a horse or idiot driver, I put my palm flat while facing them as most recognize that. Or just do lateral work, even the most stupid driver tends to respect a horse that (to them) has suddenly pranced sideways/ span round in the road.
 
Drivers don't understand hand signals. I put my hand out to stop a car as one was coming from in front car behind just over took car in front had to stop- he put his window down and apologised for the other person who we both agreed was a fool!
 
If its safe with plenty of time to see I stay in the road till they slow down, our horse Jack used to be driven so he naturally stays out from the hedge. Luckily our horses are brill in traffic, i have to say where we are most are brill, lorry, motorbikes the worse are mothers with kids in the car they dont seem to see anything around them :(
 
Never need to use hand signals apart from a thank you wave.

I think directing traffic would take your focus off your horse and confuse drivers. Some excellent tips have been given on this thread about riding safely, which should help eliminate the need for instructing traffic in all but the most exceptional cases.
 
Not sure what sticking your hand out is supposed to mean. Turn right perhaps.

And op, if your horse was having a fit, why was he on the road?

And do road riding tests actually teach you to ride on the road, or just offer up meaningless hand gestures?
 
They shouldn't be meaningless to someone whose learnt to drive...almost the same as drivers are supposed to use! If they ignore them report them if enough people do it they woll be pulled up..every little helps :D
 
I live in a very touristy area, and I get the impression that many of the tourist drivers either aren't used to encountering horses on the road or are in such a rush to get about that they just don't engage their brain when they come across one.
For instance, last time I hacked out, I was very visible wearing full high viz, on a relatively straight stretch of quite narrow road with steep hedges on either side (just to set the scene!). I heard a car aproaching me from behind, and looked to see where the next gate-way was that I could pull in to. I heard the car slow down behind me, and turned my head to see how far they were as I was just about to start trotting on to get to the gateway. As soon as they saw me turn my head, the car began to speed up and try to overtake me, on a piece of road that was blatantly too narrow for him to pass safely. My horse swung his bum out into the road a bit (think he could feel me getting agitated) but the car just carried on going, instead of braking he just drove on, taking a chunk of earth out of the hedge!
Sorry, bit of a rant, not even about hand signals but needed to get that off my chest!
 
We ride 2 abreast now - were no bigger than a car and we get the respect we deserve. We go signal file for corners
 
I had 2 buses come past me the other day, really slowly fab drivers I was grinning and saluted to thank. Then some muppet on a motorbike came from behind the queue of cars, revved up and tried to go past all of them and me, despite approaching traffic, ignoring my slow down signal (arm waving up and down is slow down) so i backed the horse across the road ;) Got a one fingered salute and gave it right back, and the on coming car got out and gave the lad on the bike a mouthful as well!
 
I can't count how many times, in the last three months (give or take) since i've started sharing my new horse, i've had such horrible drivers meet me on the road... Luckily the horse in question is actually quite genuine and honest, if he doesn't like something he will have a paddy and throw his weight around a bit and be silly like some do, but he doesn't often bomb off or really and i mean really spook... He has done, but touch wood, never been on a busy road. Since he's mainly a happy hacker now, i'm riding out more often than not. It's a quiet little village, but i've had insane drivers zooming past me at god-knows what speed! And it's infuriating because for all they know, my horse is spooky. They don't know my horse is safe, and they shouldn't assume so. I had a discussion with someone a while back, and it was about how some drivers think horses shouldn't be on the road. Well, my way of thinking is horses where here before cars, they have as much right as anyone to be on the road... Plus, if you look at the majority of horse related road accidents, it's always down to careless drivers going too fast and not paying attention. I mean, half of the people i see, including myself are riding out looking like bananas in our high vis, so how they can't see us is a mystery...!!!

But it sickens me.. As if they would just slow down, there won't be as many accidents. And i'm sure they won't hesitate to blame the horse or rider when the horse lands itself on their car bonnet! Without so much of a thought to how fast they were driving... *shrugs*
 
When I learned to drive 30+ years ago and then did my riding and road safety 25 years ago the universally understood signal o ask some-one-one to slow down was to put your arm straight out towards the road, palm down and to wave it up and down by about 18". sticking your arm out just means you intend o turn right.

I also think that if your horse cannot cope with a car passing it at 50 mph you should not be out on the road. Your nervousness of a fast approach g car could be getting transmitted to your horse causing their behaviour.
 
Well, yer i can understand that if a horse is spooky around cars, i wouldn't want to be the one sitting on it... But if i was that much of a nervous rider i wouldn't hack out. Simple as. But it's not going to hurt any driver to drop their speed. As we all know, even the safest horse can still be unpredictable and spook at a car just that one time out of the blue, and that's when accidents happen. Doesn't have to have anything to do with a rider being nervous.
And when you think about it... Most of the time if a rider has started to anticipate a fast approaching car, maybe something something similar has happened, where a car has zoomed past and spooked their horse a little, and they're anticipating the reaction from their horse... In my opinion, that's not the rider or the horse's fault. Drivers need to slow down. Just like they need to stop at zebra crossings for pedestrians, and red lights. It's called courtesy and manners! And it's why i thank drivers who slow down for me.
 
around the parts where i live, it seems to be certain makes of cars (well the people who buy these cars!) who dont tend to respect horses and their riders.... BMW's, jaguars, and big pickup trucks..... yet some unsual people have slowed down/ EVEN TURNED OFF THEIR ENGINES! for us e.g. trucks, 'boyracers' and oddly younger generations seem to respect horses on the road more than older ones? some people need to read their highway code!
 
Best way of slowing drivers down... A little naughty I know... But is to teach horse leg yield, preferably with a few snorts and a couple of strides of passage or piaffe - that one where they trot on the spot?? (I never know the difference!). My tb is a pro at it and I only have to think it now and he puts himself in the middle of the road, nobody ignores a prancing, big, horse coming towards them. I just smile sweetly, tut at his 'mis-behaviour' and comment on his obvious death wish... He's an excellent tool for babysitting as I swear he knows when cars are driving too fast and does everything he can to slow them down but will be a dope on a rope with slow cars, lorries, tractors etc and only does his little thing in company.
 
Sticking your hand out with your whip in it, I'm sorry OP but that is just rude! And I'm actually quite horrified that is even being taught! What ever happened to slowing down drivers by waving your arm up slowly up and down or moving onto a verge if your horse is a bit nervy, asking a driver to slow down and then big smiles and thank you!

And as for riding two abreast to get them to slow down its just ridiculous!

Now shoot me down if you like, I've ridden on some of the busiest roads in Surrey just general common courtesy is enough in more cases, yes you get the odd idiot, but come on slowing cars down with your whip, riding two abreast this really is not helping the relationship between drivers and horses is it!
 
I disagree Miss Bean, if you carry a whip and it happens to be in that hand then obviously its going to get stuck out with your arm as you give the slow down signal :confused:

Also on your motorbike test you are taught to drive in the middle of the lane, not on the verge to limit people passing you in a dangerously close manner, dangerous to you themselves and the oncoming traffic should they suddenly swerve out if you go round a man hole cover etc. A horse doesnt have reliable brakes or streering - so why shouldnt we ride 2 a breast in order to ask for the necessary spacial respect from other road users.
 
I am lucky where i am in that the roads are narrow and twisty. Local drivers are expecting to meet horses and often sheep being driven down the lanes so even if they are driving fairly fast they are ready to brake. Tourists are frightened to go fast because of the roads.

I have been in many areas where traffic is dangerous to horses, come to that dangerous to a lot of other road users! What I have done is to have a pocketful of pebbles, and if a car ignores my hand signals to slow down I will throw the pebbles at the car. That slows them down but is it my fault that because they were driving fast past me, my horse spooked and the dirt in his hoot hit the car?

Also on a straight road I will put the horse across the road if I think they are not going to slow.
 
Got to disagree Miss Bean. Waving the arm up and Down seems to have no effect on drivers around here at all, if anything they speed up. Classic example, last Monday it was literally torrential rain here. We have to ride regardless of the weather. Hack out, dressed like the sodding Blackpool illuminations even with a 'Caution horse in training' tabard. Lots of standing water And lots of idiot drivers who DO speed up when you ask them to slow Down. They either do not understand or just cannot be bothered to.

Now some may say this is our problem for riding out in such foul weather but when one has several liveries, who need fitness work, with no walker or indoor school and limited off road hacking, this is our only option.
 
TigerTail said:
I disagree Miss Bean, if you carry a whip and it happens to be in that hand then obviously its going to get stuck out with your arm as you give the slow down signal :confused:

I was always taught sticking out a whip gave a confusing and sometimes aggressive signal and brandishing a whip at someone was considered rude. I think it also gives off the wrong message which irritates a driver before he/she has even gone past the horse - i.e. another horse rider who think they rule the roads.

Also on your motorbike test you are taught to drive in the middle of the lane, not on the verge to limit people passing you in a dangerously close manner, dangerous to you themselves and the oncoming traffic should they suddenly swerve out if you go round a man hole cover etc. A horse doesnt have reliable brakes or streering - so why shouldnt we ride 2 a breast in order to ask for the necessary spacial respect from other road users.
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that's great on a motorbike but what happens if you were riding two abreast i.e. in the middle of the road and a car came round the corner on the wrong side of the road - a horse is not going to get out of the road as fast as a motorbike - I'm sorry, but riding on country lanes, riding two abreast is so dangerous no matter which way the traffic is coming and actually very irritating to a driver that is considerate and slow.
 
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