The British Horse Society ‘Dead? Or Dead Slow’ campaign needs to be heard more about to keep riders on the road safe!
Last year The British Horse Society released their ‘Dead? Or Dead Slow’ campaign to try and slow down drivers and make them more aware of people who are riding their horses on the roads. However with an increasing amount of incidents between riders and cars The British Horse Society are trying to reach out to more drivers so that their is more awareness for horses and riders on roads. The British Horse Society recommend these four simple steps for when passing a rider and horse:
- Slow down to a maximum of 15 mph
- Be patient, there is no need to rev your engine or beep your horn
- Pass wide you need to pass at least a car widths.
- Drive slowly away. Horses can still panic when you are in front of them.
The ‘Dead? Or Dead Slow’ campaign has been mainly aimed at drivers, however their are some things the riders can do so that they can keep safe and be seen when riding on the roads, such as:
- Wear hi-viz clothing each time you are riding on the roads, even on a bright sunny day. It’s always better to be seen as much as you can
- Unless necessary, it is highly recommendable that you don’t ride in certain conditions where you can’t be seen as well such as in fog, or darkness
- Thank drivers. If you are polite and show your appreciation to drivers then they are more likely to drive safely by you
- Make sure you are concentrating whilst riding and are aware of surroundings.
- Let others know when you are going out for a ride on roads and also let them know where you are planning to ride.
This campaign has helped see an increase in the amount of incidents that get reported. However there are still riders and horses getting injured and dying due to riding on our roads!
The British Horse Society have had 2,510 road incidents reported to them and in total there has been 222 horses that have died and also 38 riders that were killed whilst on roads. 1 in 5 of these incidents resulted in cars colliding with horses.
What Can You Do?
To get involved go to The British Horse Society website and go to their ‘Dead? Or Dead Slow’ page bhs.org.uk/deadslow
If you are a rider or a driver you can get involved and decrease the amount of riders and horses that are getting injured and killed on the roads! Go to their page and share their post and tell your friends, spread the word!
To Conclude!
Riders have just as much rights to ride on roads as cars and bicycles. They were on the roads before cars were even invented! So be safe when driving and make sure you are aware! I hope you have found this article informative and I hope it has given you some helpful ways for how to prepare your horse when riding on the road or how to pass a horse when driving!
