More than 14,000 transport professionals now have access to training it is hoped will not only keep horses and riders safer but also include them in future plans.
Rider and traffic and transport consultant Catherine Chapman has created the continuing professional development (CPD) module on equestrians as road users. She has developed the workshop with the Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) and the British Horse Society director of safety Alan Hiscox. It is available to more than 14,000 members of the CIHT.
“I hope it will raise more awareness and understanding,” Ms Chapman told H&H. “What I would like it to do is encourage a more inclusive approach to active travel, because at the moment active travel is defined as walking and cycling. But horse riders, in terms of vulnerability, are equal to cyclists according to the Highway Code, so I want to raise awareness and encourage transport professionals to think a bit more outside the box.”
Ms Chapman, the managing director of ADL Traffic and Highways Engineering, carried out a literature review, published in the Journal of Transport and Health, last year, with Professor Charles Musselwhite of Aberystwyth University.
She said she undertook this review, of published literature on equestrians as road users, partly to highlight just how little research there is in this area.
“Once I got it published, I went to my industry body, the CIHR, and said ‘There is no training’,” she said. “I told them we need this CPD workshop, and I could use my study as the basis of a CPD workshop.
“I’m now trying to raise awareness, on a professional level, of the issues horse riders have being on the road, but also the lack of understanding that we as transport professionals have about horse riders as road users. The Government road safety strategy published this year includes horse riders, but it’s just lip service. And how are you going to implement that when you don’t understand horses and you don’t understand horse riders? There needed to be a training basis and it didn’t exist.”
The CPD could be undertaken by professionals including transport planning consultants, those who work at councils or highway authorities and road safety auditors. Benefits could be that, for example, someone planning a shared walkway and cycle route would consider accommodating horses as well.
“There’s such limited research, we almost get excluded from literature reviews, as it doesn’t show up in the searches,” Ms Chapman said. “So by creating a published article, that will hopefully show up in in literature review searches.
“I’ve made my research free access as well; my aspirations are trying to generate more research on horse riders as road users and encourage more inclusive thinking when it comes to active travel and highway design. And making horses and riders safer.”
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