Horse riders

The British’s Horse Society’s Dead Slow campaign continues to gain momentum across the UK, with petrol pump advertising rolled out to 96 major supermarket petrol forecourts across the UK – reaching a potential 9.2 million drivers.

The marketing campaign comes as The British Horse Society reveals figures from its horse accidents website. In the five years since the start of the website, the charity received over 2,000 reports of road incidents involving horses. Of these, 36 caused rider deaths, and 181 resulted in a horse dying from their injuries or being put to sleep.

Lee Hackett, BHS Director of Policy, said: “This petrol pump advertising campaign has the potential to reach millions of our target audience – UK drivers. By slowing down around horses, drivers can keep everybody on the roads safe; horses and riders as well as drivers and their passengers.

On the day of the advertising launch, Liz Saville-Roberts MP submitted an Early Day Motion (EDM) on behalf of The British Horse Society to Parliament, asking Government to support The British Horse Society in:

• Raising awareness amongst vehicle drivers of how they can safely pass a horse on the roads
• Strengthening the provision of horse rider and carriage driver safety in the Highway Code
• Introducing a section of the UK driving test designed to raise awareness of horse riders and carriage drivers on the roads
• Considering whether it should be made legislatively compulsory for horse riders and carriage drivers to wear high-viz when on the roads.

Liz Saville-Roberts, MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, said: “I am delighted to be supporting The British Horse Society’s ‘Dead Slow’ campaign. 36 horse rider deaths on the UK’s roads have been reported to the charity in five years – this is 36 too many. “I am calling on Parliament to provide greater road safety measures for horse riders across the UK so that we can prevent more unnecessary deaths from happening.

The British Horse Society has produced a video demonstrating how to safely pass a horse on the road.

If you have experienced a horse accident or near-miss, you can report it to the BHS online.

Glow Means Slow is a Rochford based campaign raising awareness of the benefits of wearing hi-viz on horseback, and the need for other road users to pass wide and slow when sharing our roads with horses.