Would you do this or am I just rude?

charliehands

charliehands

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Last week when I was out riding my mare through the village a van drove past me and as it went past it sounded it's horn (quite a long one, like an angry honk, not just a little peep). luckily my horse isn't bothered about anything (except ducks!) also the van was a company one so had a website and a phone number which i managed to remember until we got back to the yard. Later on that evening I emailed the company complaining about the driver, saying that it was a dangerous thing to do and it also bad for company image etc. They have now sent me an email back saying that the horn was close to the wheel and the driver accidentally hit it... but they were very sorry.

have you ever done this, or would you? I just feel that with some of the recent images of horse road accidents people need to be a bit less dumb around horses on the road!
 
I've never done it because I have a bad memory and would ring the wrong person or something, but I think you were well within your rights to do so. At least they apologised and may think twice next time... Well done you!
 
My mother sometimes hits her horn, but it's only a "peep" and not a long drawn out honk.
I would say they're trying to cover for him, but as you can't prove that, I'd suggest emailing back and politely say that you're glad for the sorry, but it's really very very important not to beep your horn around horses.

If I could have see phone numbers or emails of some drivers, I would certainly do it!! Good for you :)
 
I have done it, but not horse related. A company van overtook me then pulled infront, very close & slammed his brakes on for no reason, causing me to brake & all the work gear in our van going everywhere.

I took the phone number & rang the office. They were very apologetic & I was told the driver would be spoken too, as they knew who it was.

I would certainly have done the same as what you did xx
 
I would do the same - what they say to you, and what they say to the driver, are probably very different things. Sounds like he needed a horn up his backside..ooops does that sound rude :eek:;)
 
Definitely the right thing to do - and I can't see it being an accidental knock of the horn if it was sounded for so long - good for you!!
 
Yep, had a warburton lorry try to run me off the road. He blasted his horn, drove right up my exhaust and tried overtaking on several blind bends. When ge finally overtook he swerved in towards me and cut me up then slammed his brakes on.

Had the last laugh as I was on the way home from a lesson and had two mates and a video camera so filmed his actions. Emailed Warburtons who replied immediately with a massive apology and said the driver had been sacked - he was on a temporary contract apparently. I said I had video evidence and could email but they didn't ask to see it. They also offered to send me a selection of bread :)

It was very scary at the time though I must admit.
 
I rang a postal delivery van service after one of their drivers came round the corner of a lane on the wrong side of road, he then slammed breaks on and wound his window down and gave me a my friend a mouthful. They were very apologetic and gave the driver a severe telling off and a warning.

It is deffo worth ringing to complain.
 
No I don't think you were "rude" at all; I think it was wise to do so, albeit the driver says he "didn't mean to do it" - which possibly is him trying to save his own bacon!

I complained about something (not horsey) but I was driving in a 30mph built up area and a bus was goosing me from behind and just sitting on my rear bumper revving his engine and then slamming his brakes on; so I took a note of the time and location and wrote in and complained. He wasn't just being ignorant, it was more than that - it felt menacing and I actually felt intimidated by it.

Surprisingly, I got a letter back apologising and saying that they'd spoken to the driver concerned. So it is worth complaining.
 
A while ago a friend of mine was hacking her horse, when a company van passed her very dangerously whilst he had his hand on his horn. My friends horse didn't react much - but my friend did. The company was a bathroom fitters. She contacted the compay and lodged a complaint and got a pretty standard reply, similar to the OP's reply. But she decided not to let it lie........

She contacted them, arranged a salemans to visit, got a quote, said that she would think about it, and played the game so well that the salesman visited 3 times, and their customer services phone line was tied up for about 4 hours. She eventually said to their directors office that "although I love your products, I will not give a penny of my money to a company who allows their drivers to treat other road users - especially horse riders with utter contempt" - she made sure that the company had the details of the original complaint and highlighted the amount of time she wasted of their staffs time. It would be very interesting to know if the companies drives now treat horse riders with more consideration!!
 
not rude at all, when driving their van he is representing their company and if he's driving like an eejit the company need to be told! i emailed a complaint to a company after their van driver drove past me at speed while i was riding causing my mare to try and climb the verge and fall on her knees:mad: i got an apology but they couldn't reprimand the driver because i couldn't get his reg plate details!! i could tell them where he was delivering too and at what time so they should have been able to work out who it was!
 
Good on you!

I had a postman purposely scare my youngster, while we were actually walking on the farm, so it's not even just public roads this happens on. Apparently he has a bit of a reputation for this sort of thing locally.

I was leading my baby cob when the postman slowed down before a cattle grid, then put his foot down over it, spraying stones and rattling the grid like crazy and speeding past us causing my laid back coblet to rear vertical. I doubt I would have sat it had I been riding.

My OH actually went into the local royal mail offices and spoke to the transport manager, who couldn't have been more helpful and apologetic, and he was very angry at this guy who is meant to be representing the royal mail. He said he would give the guy a severe telling off and a warning and actually gave OH his personal number and said keep and eye on him, if he so much as blinks at you again ring me straight away and he won't have a job anymore. Result!

Since then we've kept our distance, he stays away from me and I stay away from him. Suits me.
 
I had an incident in my horsebox on the way back from a show. It was awful weather - belting down with rain, really windy and lots of traffic on the motorway. Traffic was slow moving for the motorway and I was in the middle lane doing about 60mph. A huge Pollock transport lorry pulled straight out on me and nearly took my passenger side out. Friend and I both screamed as I tried to brake as steadily as I could with the horse in and avoid being hit at the same time. She wrote down the reg number and I e-mailed Pollock transport to report the incident. I heard NOTHING back from them. I nearly reported him to the Police but as it was only mine and my friend's word against his, and no actual evidence there would have been nothing they could have done. I regularly hear that HGV drivers are the best on the road - not in my experience they're not!
 
Funny how those stickers "How's My Driving - Call xxxxxxxxxxxxxx" seem to have disappeared.. could it be there were too many complaints (if you had the time to get the bloody phone number and reg) or did the drivers hammer them off ?

Hmmm :confused:
 
Not rude at all, proper order, in fact. Some dreadful experience related above. Dont forget you can also lodge a complaint to the police. OP, if you are emailing a reply to the company would you maybe consider including the poster in the polite riding gear thread? It makes the point you want to make in a graphic way that non horsey people can relate to.
 
haha I was wearing a polite tabard! :) In the original email I attached a link to the think campaign about horses and asked for it to be passed on to the driver.. don't think I will take it any further now as they have apologised and I wasn't really expecting that. I thought they would see it as someone just having a moan!

here's another one, would you email a company if you had an exceptionally good experience of their drivers on the road? like really slowing down/stopping their vehicle for you? Just wondering :)
 
Fortunately never been peeped at but have had to deal with many trucks over the years

What I've done is to phone up and asked to speak to whoever is in charge of the drivers. Once talking to them I explain why I'm phoning and rather than 'have a grumble' explain the possible reactions of horses they pass and how to reduce the reactions by thoughtful passing. Ask that they talk to their drivers the acceptable way of dealing with horses on the road or verge.

In general the information is well received and I have truly noticed a change in driver behaviour from companies I've spoken too.

One of my horses was fine with one truck passing, two had him in the hedge the third turned him into a basket case and as we lived close to a large gravel quarry we'd meet many. After a few weeks of kind passing he just shook when there were a few trucks passing rather than trying to demolish fences, hedges and me in an attempt to get away from them.
 
charliehands said:
here's another one, would you email a company if you had an exceptionally good experience of their drivers on the road? like really slowing down/stopping their vehicle for you? Just wondering :)
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No, but now you mention it, I think I will. I went on a retail course and the lovely man who ran it (now sadly passed away, far too soon. He was only 40-ish) said that companies really like getting good feedback from people and sometimes it's great to get some thanks, in an otherwise thankless job.
 
Feathered said:
Good point, and in future if a driver does go out of their way for me, I'll ring or email to say so.

Works both ways after all.
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Yep! We seem to be a bunch of moaners :P Not saying you are OP, you did the right thing, f'sure!

The example that the retail guy made was he asked us to all name 3 examples of bad experiences we've had. Easy! We all had a good moan for ages.

He then asked us to think of 3 really good experiences...I could only think of 1 :O (Vietnamese in China Town, they're amazing!)
 
I tend to tell other road users how grateful I am when they are nice to us - a big grin and wave, with a mouthed "thankyou" to drivers if more than a grin and hand up is required, and i always tell cyclists who have given us a warning that it is much appreciated. Motorcyclists also get the grin and thankyou.

Yup a bit of a nutter on the roads up here - and it's me. Most are in total shock at the mini cobby police horse tbh :)
 
I have phoned a couple of companies and complained about the terrible driving I have seen while on horseback. They have said sorry and they will talk to driver etc. I have also phoned a couple of companies to ask them to pass on thanks to their drivers when they have been particularly courteous. On one occasion my dad wrote a really lovely letter to Currys (i think it was) thanking them for the actions of their driver as I was hacking his horse out who was being a plonker and trying to bolt down the middle of the road. He stopped and turned engine off and waited very patiently while I got control and got past the scary things. The company wrote back and said the driver would get a bonus in his wages as thanks for his actions. Thought that was really nice of them (hope he actually got it and they weren't just saying that)! I think it is always worth praising good actions as hopefully more people will catch on.
 
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