Rochdale & Bury Bridleways Association encourage motorists to ‘Pass Wide and Slow’

Horse riders from Rochdale & Bury Bridleways Association rode down Rooley Moor Road and Ings Lane as part of the nationwide ‘Pass Wide and Slow’ campaign on Sunday 14 April, which endeavours to raise awareness amongst motorists on the safe way to pass horse riders they meet on the roads.

Lead rider, Hayley Oliver, wore the campaign logo which advises drivers to slow down to a maximum of 15mph and pass the horse rider at least a car’s width away.

The campaign has come via a petition to make it a legal requirement to pass horses slowly with a wide berth, in addition to other road users abiding by the rider’s hand signals, as horses can be easily scared by cars that don’t take care when passing them. 

 

 

The Highway Code warns motorists to 'be particularly careful of horse riders and horse-drawn vehicles especially when overtaking. Always pass wide and slowly. Horse riders are often children, so take extra care and remember riders may ride in double file when escorting a young or inexperienced horse or rider. Look out for horse riders’ and horse drivers’ signals and heed a request to slow down or stop. Take great care and treat all horses as a potential hazard'.

References to ‘road’ generally includes footpaths, bridleways and cycle tracks, and many roadways and driveways on private land (including many car parks).

Irene Pope, chair of the Rochdale & Bury Bridleways Association said: “The motorists that came across our riders on Rooley Moor Road on the whole followed this advice and we would like to thank them for their courtesy.

“If all motorists would follow this advice it would help reduce the increasing numbers of fatalities of both riders and horses that are occurring on our roads as a result of road traffic accidents.”

Alarming new statistics from The British Horse Society have revealed nearly two horses a week are being killed on UK roads, with 845 incidents involving horses and drivers reported last year.

In the last year alone, 87 horses and four people have been tragically killed whilst riding on the roads and 73% of incidents reported occurred due to vehicles passing by too closely.

In 2017, a horse was left with serious injuries after being hit by an impatient driver on Manchester Road in Castleton. Insufficient space was left when attempting to overtake a horse and rider plus a parked car.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/113645/horse-left-with-serious-injuries-by-impatient-motorist

The BHS launched its ‘Dead Slow’ road safety campaign in 2016 to help better educate drivers on how to pass horses on the road:

• Slow down to a maximum of 15mph
• Be patient – do not sound your horn or rev the engine
• Pass the horse wide and slow, (if safe to do so) at least a car’s width if possible
• Drive slowly away

You can sign the petition at:

• www.change.org/p/uk-govt-make-it-law-to-pass-by-a-horse-wide-and-slow-and-abide-by-our-hand-signals