Horse riders to have their say on speed limits
Some of Britain's most vulnerable road users - horse riders and carriage drivers - are being urged to give their views on whether lowering speed limits will make roads safer.
Every year hundreds of horses and riders are involved in accidents on our roads.
In 2011, 225 incidents involving horses on the road were reported through the dedicated accident recording website, www.horseaccidents.org.uk.
This included 18 severe rider injuries and eight rider fatalities.
The British Horse Society (BHS), the charity that funds the website on behalf of all equestrians, fears that this figure is just the tip of the iceberg, and that many more incidents go unreported.
A horse can be killed, or a vehicle written off and the accident may not be recorded anywhere.
The charity has welcomed the Government's consultation on guidance to traffic authorities for setting local speed limits.
However, the BHS agrees with Ministers that speed limit changes alone are unlikely to fully address the problem of accidents on rural roads and that a wider range of measures will be needed to be implemented.
The British Horse Society will be responding to the consultation before it closes in October.
The charity is urging all equestrians to express the points they want considered, before it formulates its response. Please send any comments to safety@bhs.org.uk
