Horse Safety Initiative

31 March 2016

The British Horse Society has launched a concerted effort to encourage drivers to slow down.

With an increasing number of reported accidents and incidents involving riders and cars, we're building on our solid foundation of road safety education and campaigning to make drivers aware of the need to slow down to 15 miles per hour when they encounter horses on the road, and to give riders plenty of room.

To demonstrate best practice in driving past horses on the road, BHS have produced a new and helpful video.

New data published examines the incidents reported to the award winning BHS’s horse accidents website. It reveals between November 2010 and 1st March 2016, 36 riders were killed as a result of road incidents involving horses that were reported to the charity.

Released to coincide with the launch of a new BHS campaign, the data also highlights that the charity received a total of 2,070 reports of road incidents involving horses during the same period. The Dead Slow campaign urges drivers to slow down to 15mph when they meet a horse and rider on the road. The BHS says that 75% of accidents happened because the vehicle passed the horse without allowing enough space, claiming that ‘a lot of people aren’t sure how to safely pass a horse when driving’.