Some drivers really really scare me.

[JustKickOn]

Riding today, every driver on our way out and all round was brilliant. Slowed down, we thanked them, some said hello if they had their windows open and were generally very polite and patient.
On the way back, less that two minutes from the yard my heart was in my throat.

There is a tricky corner, you can see round it, and you CAN see two reflective blobs walking down the road, but you still have to be cautious. A van was over taking me and another girl who were riding out, and some p!llock came zooming round the corner, very nearly missing hitting the van that was over taking precautiously.
The car driver had cut across the corner at 60+ mph, on their mobile, in wet conditions.
Considering the weather and the way the man was driving, there were 15-20 foot skid marks on the road, and blue sparks coming out from the back wheels. The driver sped off, probably without a backwards glance.

I felt physically sick and couldn't stop shaking.

What scared me even more is that we were going to trot to give the boys a last little stretch, and if we had, then there could have been a very messy situation.

Thankfully we didn't trot, and did get home safely, but it's just an incident like this that really opens your eyes to how careful you have to be on the roads.

I honestly wish there was much more off-road hacking and bridlepaths round here, but there aren't, so we have to make do with the roads, which are inevitably going to have loons on

Just needed to release that a little, but if you did read it all, thank you.

 

[mattilda]

We had a super hack today with a friend riding my old lad and me on a spooky wb. Vast majority of drivers crawled past us wide and slow and returned our waves with a smile. Two plonkers hurtled past in wet conditions on narrow roads. They received the slow down signal but paid no attention. One day they will kill or injure someone but probably not themselves. I know exactly how you feel. We too have to do some roadwork to get to off road hacking.

 

[Brontie]

Glad your ok. Some drivers are Tw@ts. Good job your wearing Hi Viz.x.

 

[Bay_Beasty]

Oh that sounds horrid! Someone was on your side telling you not to trot! and your boys are very good not rushing away from all those scary sparks and noise!

 

[Jingleballs]

How awful for you - I have limited off road hacking at my yard which means I have to often hack on a pretty busy national speed limit country road and generally I hate every second of it.

I have had so many cars fly past me at 60mph or more who don't acknowledge my signals. I find women drivers are actually worse and that men, especially van and lorry drivers are the ones most likely to slow.

This is the reason I don't hack out much - I would love to do more hacking but I just don't enjoy it enough and I don't want to risk myself or my horse.

 

[frb]

My boy and i were hit by a car when out, some people are pigs, the man was not remotely sorry, and we could have been killed.
On my last hack saw a driver who stopped without being asked, turned off his engine, was friendly, said my horse was beautiful and waited until we were a safe distance before starting his engine, what a nice man!!! There are some nice ones, but not many unfortunately.

 

[dwi]

yes people are ridiculous, such a shame because one bad experience can scare you and them for weeks.

Completely off topic but the similarity in marking between your horse and mine is startling, I actually had to look twice to see that you weren't sitting on Daisy

 

[JustKickOn]

It has given me a fright, but hopefully my confidence won't be too knocked the next time I go out on the roads

It really is sad that so many people have had bad encounters with cars

Van and lorry drivers are the best by far IMO. Always slow down, well, the ones I've seen do anyway

dwi- Carling isn't mine, I ride him for somebody else, but looking, they are very similar! Spooky!

 

[bushbaby28]

thank god you have such good horses!!!! grrr should kill some ppl, i hope you yelled after them! getting hit by a car has got to be my worse nightmare! xx

 

[saskia295]

[ QUOTE ]
it's just an incident like this that really opens your eyes to how careful you have to be on the roads.

[/ QUOTE ]

I disagree. You couldn't have been more careful. It's the d*ckhead drivers that need to be careful. If you did manage to spot the registration and/or make/model of the car, I would report it to the police. I know they can't/won't do anything but perhaps next time (which inevitably and sadly, there will be), they will at least be aware, especially if he's on his mobile, IDIOT

 

[miss_bird]

The scary thing for all us horse riders is that we have to think that every car could be being driven by a complete idiot, well that is the way i think, so that when the idiot does finally come along the road it is not a surprise and i dont end up screaming loads of abuse like i used to

 

[JustKickOn]

It all went by so fast, didn't even think about number plates, plus I didn't have my glasses on so couldn't read small things

All I know is that it was a blue car, sadly

 

[superstar565]

its worrying that some drives just dont seem to care. and somtimes i wonder if they would stop if they did hit a horse and rider.
a while back i was hacking out my old pone and a small car with music blaring sped past me. didnt even slow down and didnt pull out. i felt the slip streem on my leg they were so close. thank god my pone was such a saint in everyway but if someone was riding a horse that was young/had a dislike of traffic i womder what would have happened to them anthe car! scary thought!

 

[frb]

My horse and i will never really get over our accident, so angry this person did this to us. I could never again go near a busy road, and have had to move yards to find quieter hacking. When on the road and see a car i ride in middle of road and ask them to stop, and have to ensure they stay stopped or my boy will spook. We are like jelly but we persevere. The police did nothing about my accident, took statements but nothing else, the policeman was not concerned at all really, even though we knew who hit us, he had a statement taken but was not concerned. Kind of lost my faith in the police really, even though it is in the highway code etc to give way to horses. Everyone please be careful!

 

[gg68]

So sorry that you had such a nasty experience. Really scary.
Lobby your MP for better off road riding for equestrians. Currently the BHS is seeking support from all riders for access to the coastal path, in the Marine bill, but it doesn't help those who live in the countryside. Country roads were cart tracks, having been given a surface, they are considered M'way's by some people.

 

[JustKickOn]

I got that coastal path thing through from the BHS, sent it off, but it's no just to people near me in the Midlands

Will consider the MP idea though, thank you

 

[Mosh]

I know how you feel!
The person who started my old riding school was killed by a car while she was hunting.
I've noticed that when you give the slow down signal to some drivers, that they wave back I'm not waving at you, you idiot!
I once had someone reach out of their car to stroke a horse i was riding. The horse was a saint and only jumped.
How many people getting injured is it going to take before something that actually makes a difference is going to happen?

 

[PeterNatt]

There are a lot of bad drivers out there that not only drive badly when approaching and passing horses but do the same to other road users.

So as to protect your horse and yourself as much a spossible I would strongly reccomend that you always wear a long sleeved Hi-Viz jacket (similar to what the mounted police wear) when hacking out of your yard as this will also ensure that your hand signals can be clearly seen from a distance by other road users.

Also take the BHS Road Safety Course and Test as this will give you valuable aids.

As regards more off road riding then why not contact your local BHS county bridleway officer and explain the problems you are having in your immediate area as they may well be able to work together with you and local riders to improve off road riding in your immediate area.