Horse and safety

Highway code guidance for passing animals

Campaigners have called for better driver education around passing horses safely on the road after the latest figures showed almost 70 animals died in traffic accidents last year.

Whats the purpose of this?

Last year came the updated highway code which included a new hierarchy of road users, which puts more responsibility on those who would cause the most potential harm, making drivers responsible for being careful around more vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists, and horse riders.

The Statistics

Last year riders reported more than 3,500 incidents on British roads, ranging from verbal abuse to collisions.

According to its figures, 68 horses were killed and 125 injured in road incidents in 2022, along with 139 riders injured.

Eighty percent of those incidents were because vehicles are passing too fast or too close to horses

Nearly 18 months after the Highway Code introduced these changes we found that 4 out of 5 drivers do not know the specific changes that came in regarding equestrians

How to safely overtake a horse.

Slow down to a maximum of 10mph and be ready to stop if necessary

Look out for riders’ hand signals to slow down or stop

Be patient – do not sound your horn or rev the engine

Overtake only when it is safe to do so, ensuring that you leave a
least two meters between your vehicle and the horse

Drive away smoothly and don’t rev your engine