British Drivers Not Sure How to Share Road with Horses

You would probably not be surprised to learn that the majority of UK drivers do not know much about towing a horse trailer. However, how much do you know about sharing the road with horses and their riders? If you are like most people then this is yet another area in which you are largely ignorant. Nevertheless, you can be forgiven. It’s not often we find horses traversing the streets of metropolitan areas. Knowing how to share the road with horses is not a skill we need every day.

This past March, The Telegraph published a story with some curious statistics about car drivers and their knowledge of horses. The story was the result of a poll commissioned by the AA. Here are some of the more interesting highlights:

• 8% of drivers don’t know how to safely pass a horse on the road
• 6% said they’ve had a ‘near miss’ involving a horse in the past
• 17% said they did not know it was legal to ride a horse on a public road.

Despite the statistics, there are times when car drivers come upon horse riders in very limited space. How the car passes the horse is important for everyone’s safety. The number one thing to remember, according to The Telegraph and the AA, is that horses are easily spooked. That is why owners towing a horse trailer tend to drive slower and go easier on the brakes and cornering. They are trying not to spook the animals.

When passing a horse with a car, the following tips are recommended:

• don’t pass until there is enough space equal to a car width between you
• do not blow the horn or rev the engine
• avoid passing through standing water
• pay careful attention to the rider in case he or she’s making traffic signals
• after passing, accelerate slowly until you pull away.

Proper Towing Technique

As long as we are on the subject of horses and road safety, let us talk briefly about proper towing technique. As a horse owner, you are intimately aware of the fact that your animal requires a lot more care during transport than inanimate cargo. You know that towing a horse trailer is serious business.

We urge you to undergo regular trailer training even if the combination of your trailer and towing vehicle does not require a special licence. As far as we’re concerned, you can never have enough training. We believe an annual training course should be the bare minimum for new, inexperienced drivers and those who only tow trailers occasionally. Experienced drivers can wait several years between training sessions.

At the HGV Training Centre, we will help you learn proper towing techniques for transporting horses. We will teach you how to corner, how to brake, and how to manoeuvre your horse trailer in a way that keeps your animals safe. If towing a horse trailer is in your plans for this year, be sure to train with us first.

Sources:

The Telegraph – https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/10732779/Motorists-confusion-over-how-to-pass-a-horse.html