Would you do this or am I just rude?

Think you're 100% in the right for emailing. I'd probably do the same; it doesn't matter that your horse wasn't bothered it's the principle!! x
 
Good on you OP! I have had a few inconsiderate taxi drivers pass me and I am thinking I will contact their depot next time. One of them honked at me, and another one shouted out of the window, actually I think it was a passenger... who gets in a taxi and says 'driver, lets go and terrorise some horseriders? being an idiot in a company vehicle can and shout bite you on the bum!

On another note, in a traffic jam once my friend decided to phone the 'hows my driving' number on a lorry just out of boredom, the lady was completely baffled that we had no complaint to make and thought we were just taking the pee, I hope the driver was pleased with his feedback... ah happy days.
 
I have e-mailed our local bus company to tell them how good their drivers are around the horses, I hope they passed it on. I would have done the same as the OP in her situation as well, as it gives them the chance to remind their drivers that they are representing the company.
 
Flight said:
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.
Click to expand...
I think that's brilliant Flight! I'll remember that.
OP you were quite right, and not at all rude. Not all horses would be quite as stoic as yours, and you may have saved someone else serious injury.
 
I've done this - but not for a horse incident.
I was nursing my car home and had been warned not to take it over 50. A lorry driver came up behind, very impatient and overtook - blind hill and coming to a corner.
A car came the other way and the lorry swerved onto my side of the road. His rear wheel was beside my wing mirror and luckily I'd had a large entrance to my left I managed to haul into and back out of.
I went to the factory it came from and lodged a complaint. We got an apology from the company as it was a driver from a different company that drive their vehicles, and the driver got a talking-to.

I was really nervous with lorries behind me for years afterwards, and it's only been the past couple of years I managed to get over my fear.
 
I rang a coach company when one of their drivers nearly ran meoff the road when driving so yes. That said, I also rang the bus company when I past so many buses one day and all of their drivers slowed down to say thank you!
 
YorksG said:
I have e-mailed our local bus company to tell them how good their drivers are around the horses, I hope they passed it on. I would have done the same as the OP in her situation as well, as it gives them the chance to remind their drivers that they are representing the company.
Click to expand...

That wouldn't the bus company 'Tates', would it?

I have emailed them to compliment the drivers on our local route, re. Their wonderful attitude towards mounted road users.
They are really patient and considerate.
 
I would do the same - i don't think it would achieve anything if the email was a long ranting complaint, but politely explaining your perspective can only help educate people. I say "well done O.P."
 
I have to the Royal Mail. The driver was an Ass. I was heading down a single track to our yard when I met one of the girls from the yard heading out for a ride. She got off the road onto the grass track and I slowed right down. The postie in his van behind me started to give me the Wxxxxr sign, started screaming abuse, he looked like some one had poked his ass with a cattle rod he was so far out of his seat.:D I could see the steam coming out of his ears. I can only assume i had disrupted the mission he was on. He's known for rally car driving in his pat van. :D

I emailed the post office, and to be fair I did get a phone call, a half hearted apology from them. The did speak to him as he mentioned the incident to my YO when he delivered the post to them a few days later.

It didnt make any difference he still thinks hes a rally driver.
 
About 5 years ago I was out hacking when a driver of a yellow van from a well known breakdown company shouted expletives at me telling me to get off the *******ing road while sounding his horn - I complained to the police (had a witness) AND the company. I also cancelled my roadside cover with immediate effect and my insurance policy I held with them and went elsewhere, due to the principle. I did get a letter of apology, but TBH I don't want to deal with a company with employees who behave in such a vicious way towards horse riders.
 
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 :)
Click to expand...

Yes I would. In fact I have done one better and popped into the office with biscuits for the drivers.

I was out on my 4yo (3rd hack on our own) and a big tipper truck ( blue and white one on this page http://www.earthmoving-peterborough.co.uk/ ) came down the road towards us, I was cacking my pants but the driver was so good and youngster didnt bat an eyelid.. I had a little proud owner cry & pony got lots of hugs
 
Not only have I phoned companies about the dangerous driving by one of their drivers but have also called in to the company if they are very local to me and had a word with their line manager

As long as all this is done very politely without any anger then it gets resolved

The trick when phoning is to keep a smile on your face at all times - this works for all phone calls - for those that think I am nuts just try it
 
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 :)
Click to expand...

Yes, I have. I have emailed South Glos council regarding their bin men and faresaver the local bus company to thank them for being so courteous to horse drivers. The bin men in particular are great with horses and don't hesitate to pull right over and turn their engine off. :)
 
Was walking my mare out down the main road outside our yard one evening last summer, way off the road on the grass verge so certainly not in the way of any cars etc.
Long straight road with a 30mph speed limit, large coach comes whizzing up from behind us, way over 30mph, I turned around as could here it coming and he literally glared at me but didn't slow down. My pony reared vertical and almost came over backwards on me.
Luckily the company logo was all over the back of the coach and they received a phone call the following day. Now the coach companies tend to slow right down however my mare has developed a big dislike to them!
 
have you ever done this, or would you?
Click to expand...

Yes, I did it once with a van that's used for car rescue. It absolutely hammered past me through a residential area, over speed bumps (so 20 mph limit) with no thought for the horse it was about to pass. No reaction from the horse at all, however someone elses could have been badly frightened.

Company director couldn't have been nicer or more apologetic.

As long as all this is done very politely without any anger then it gets resolved
Click to expand...

Yes, I was very polite, and just pointed out my concerns.
 
I was once on my way to work and a signed van infront swerved to go through the puddle in the gutter and soaked the kid walking past it. Then he swerved back into the "normal driving position" in the road. I was fuuming, so called the company, clocked the reg and went nuts at the woman who was on the phone. I even told her that i run a large company and that i will be informing ALL my clients and friends to stay well away from their company. She called me back to inform me that the driver had been given a written warning.
Did i feel bad - Nope. I only felt bad for the child who had to sit in damp clothes all day.

I would have done the same as you, yes. Although i probably would have forgotten the name of the company!!
 
Not rude at all IMO.
As was said earlier, as long as you're polite, it generally gets resolved without any hassle.
When I was learning to tow the box, I was heading home one day when a lorry overtook and cut in sharply (after tailgating me for quite a while), forcing me to have to break fairly quickly. Fortunately I had been slowing down for a bend so it wasn't too bad, but as a learner I experienced a lot of this type of behaviour from drivers.
As it happened, we saw where the lorry was headed and had taken the registration, so when we got home, we rang the factory and enquired as to whether or not they could tell us what company it was from. Initially they were very careful not to give us any information, but once we explained what had happened, they were very apologetic and told us. When we rang the company, they too were very apologetic and said they would have a word with the particular driver, as well as a general announcement to all drivers.
 
You are well within your rights to complain.

Just to add though, on our 58 plate L200 the horn is in the middle of the steering wheel. On a few occassions OH has hit the horn enough to make people walking by, jump (and me too!) accidently. So the accident reasoning, might well be true - have no idea why they don't leave the horn on the stalk TBH!

As for saying when drivers are good, I used to livery my horse close to a huge Rockwool factory, all the drivers are fab round there and had I stayed on the yard, my intention was to send them choccie at christmas to say thanks :)
 
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 :)
Click to expand...

That's a really good idea. It's easy enough to remember to complain but a lot of people (me included) tend to take the good drivers for granted because that's how all drivers should behave in an ideal world.
 
I would definately have called the company to complain about the driver. I was neearly run over by a council can driver while crossing a road. he gave me a right mouthful. I stayed calm and pointed out that he was in a Council Housing Dept van and I was goin to complain, he said - "no you won't". As soon as I got back to work, the very first thing I did was call his boss and complain about him.
 
I would have done the same, so well done you for remembering!

I cant say id have kept my 'cool' with the ignorant driver. Just trying to create a reaction the idiot. 'leant on it by accident my ar$e'.... You should have gone back asking him if he had passed out over the wheel judging by the length of the horn, not just a quick slip.
 
Yes! Years ago, driving through our tiny village with 4 children in the car (3 of them not mine) we were put off the road by a commercial vehicle going like a bat out of hell in the opposite direction on a single track road. I was so angry that I turned round and chased it (at up to 50mph) until the children had written down or memorised everything about the van.

I then rang the company. By chance I got the director and he was simply furious. Their (new) driver had moaned so much that morning about his delivery drops (which the director said previous drivers had managed very comfortably), that he had taken one-third of this guy's drops away. So there was absolutely no excuse.

Someone said afterwards "Oh but he could have got the sack!" Good!!!
 
I would definitely have done this too!! A slight peep of the horn is accidental... but he definitely did this on purpose. People like that really irritate me and every day I hear of incidents on the roads involving idiot drivers! :mad:
 
OP, I think you did the right thing, and I would do the same (if able to remember details).

I will also remember in future to email/ call companies in order to thank their drivers who do slow down/stop for me. I am sure we can all say that receiving praise makes us try to do the same thing, whereas getting an earful is not really that productive.
 
Well done you I think that's brilliant! I would have failed miserably at the 'remember the phone number' bit! Wish I was as gutsy as this though, maybe if more of us were like you we'd have a few more considerate drivers on the roads :)
 
Well done,

I would do the same.


I have just baught a camera that clips on to my rideing hat to record any nastys :eek: went out hacking lol:D

I had a motor bike on a bridle path the other day i was furious narrow path and motor bikes are not allowed on it. Bike would not slow down at all i had to jump off quick:eek:
 
I've never done it, (luckily never had to) but I def would do should it happen to me!!

you were right to complain to the company- not good rep for them and if your horse was spooky it could have been a very different story!
 
I think you did the right thing, imagine if it had been a child on a less 'bombproof' pony, hopefully the driver might think next time!

A few years ago whilst hacking out I had a taxi driver zoom past me on three consecutive days, on the third day he was so fast and close he knocked his wing mirror off on my foot! Later that day I took the mirror round to the cab office (was written on side of cab!!) And told them what had happened, driver was sacked and I was sent a bunch of flowers as an apology :)
 
Janette said:
That wouldn't the bus company 'Tates', would it?

I have emailed them to compliment the drivers on our local route, re. Their wonderful attitude towards mounted road users.
They are really patient and considerate.
Click to expand...
No amazingly it was first bus :D They are fantastic round our bit :)
 
No definitely not rude! I would have done it too!

Again, not horsey but I have emailed a complaint to a local taxi company about one of their drivers. We sat in traffic waiting to turn onto a road with roadworks on & I decided it wasn't worth sitting there any longer & would go the other way. Looked in my mirrors, indicated & the taxi driver behind me pulled out as soon as I indicated & started to move, stuck his foot down & his fingers up at me as he went past.
I'm only 22 and look quite young & thought how intimidating this could have been for a new driver or just someone nervous or easily intimidated.
Unfortunately for him I then sat behind him at the next traffic lights, memorised his number plate & emailed the firm saying that I use their taxis a lot & so know this isn't the usual behaviour but think they should have a word as its intimidating & if it was my company I wouldn't want someone driving like that & ruining my reputation. Got a lovely email back saying he had been spoken to, sent his apologies & realises the error of his ways which was all I wanted.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top