Road accidents involving horse riders
More than three million people ride horses on the British roads; this accompanied by the increasing
amount of traffic and careless drivers is surely a recipe for disastrous
road accidents.
Overall, more than 3000 road accidents involve
horses every year and shockingly around 8 of these horse riding accidents
are reported daily. On average, 16 horse riding road accidents result in
fatality for riders every year. Unfortunately, a lot of children ride on the roads and teenagers are those most commonly
injured in horse riding accidents.
The majority of horse riding accidents occur on
minor roads and these appalling statistics are usually accountable to reckless vehicle drivers. The fact is that most of us
are in such a hurry to get to work or get to the supermarket that waiting for horses to pass on the road is a terrible
inconvenience. It is common for vehicles to travel at excessive speeds which alarm the horses, causing them to rear up and
throw their rider off. This can leave horse riders with numerous serious personal injuries such as head, back and spinal cord injuries.
We have moved forward with our vast array of motor vehicles and hard wearing roads but these are not
beneficial to the horses that share our roads and have done for several centuries. More cars mean crowded roads with an
increased risk of hazards. Also, many road surfaces are now coated with SMA (stone mastic asphalt) which causes horses to
slip as they cannot attain a proper grip. This combination of factors makes
road accidents highly probable.
You may question why horses still have to use the roads when they have their own special bridleways.
But, it is often unavoidable for riders to use the roads since this is the only way that they can get to bridleways and
tracks. So, it looks as though drivers and horse riders have to learn to share the roads and be more tolerant of one
another.
A few tips for drivers to avoid horse riding accidents
There are usually road signs warning of horse riders, horse boxes, wild horses and any other horse related potential road
accident hazards in places where these are most common, giving motorists forewarning to adjust their driving. But here are
a few pointers for safe driving and avoiding road accidents:
- Nerves - animals get nervous when put in undesirable situations. It is animal instinct to
escape from frightening situations so be prepared for a horse to rear or run if you are too close to it or approach
it at speed. Never rev your engine or blast your horn near a horse
- Keep right - due to their nerves horses do not want have traffic on both sides of them so they
usually stick to the left of the road even when turning right
- Vision - horses do not have peripheral vision, making it difficult to judge the position and
speed of moving vehicles. It is possible for them to overreact, so approach with caution
- Signals - look out for horse riders making arm signals similar to those of used by cyclists and
drivers as shown in the Highway Code
Basically, motorists should watch out for horses, especially on country lanes, and always give horses
as much room as possible, remembering to reduce their speed as they approach the horse. It is unadvisable to overtake a
horse unless absolutely necessary. If you do overtake a horse do so very slowly while giving it a very wide berth.
Ultimately, drivers having an increased awareness of horse riders on the roads and a mutual respect
between drivers and horse riders should decrease the chances of road accidents occurring and prevent so many teenagers from being injured.
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