Rider receives £30,000 compensation after being hit by lorry
A rider was awarded £30,000 compensation last month (15 July) after her horse was hit by a lorry while out hacking in 2014.
Claire Macmanomy was hacking her friend’s horse, Red, in Gospel End, W Mids, on 7 February 2014 when the accident happened.
She was awarded the compensation on 15 July this year.
Ms Macmanomy was riding Red along a stretch of road to an indoor school about a quarter of a mile from the yard when they were hit.
The mare’s owner, Kay Hill-Sayce, was on foot alongside them when they saw a skip lorry approaching.
Due to the speed at which the truck was travelling and how close it was, Mrs Hill-Sayce took hold of the reins and signalled for the driver to slow down.
“It is a journey we have done hundreds of times,” said Ms Macmanomy.
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“There is an issue with speeding traffic through the village, which I have campaigned and petitioned on.”
The lorry tried to pass them on a narrow section of road and clipped Red with its wing mirror, cutting the horse’s head and hindquarters.
The horse reared up, throwing Ms Macmanomy into the side of the lorry before they both fell on to the road.
“As I was falling, I remember thinking I was going to die,” she told H&H.
“The air brakes went off and I heard the scrabble of hooves.”
A passenger in a passing car called an ambulance.
Red, an eight-year-old ex-trotter, suffered cuts to her face (pictured, above), dock and legs.
The lorry driver stopped further along the road but left before the police arrived. He was later found and fined £255, and had five points added to his licence after admitting to failing to report an accident.
Ms Macmanomy was taken to Russells Hall Hospital in nearby Dudley. She was X-rayed and was found to have broken three lumbar vertebrae.
She remained in hospital for a month and had to wear a back brace until mid-May 2014.
“I’m so passionate about road safety, and want to try and educate as many road users as possible about the dangers of approaching and overtaking horses on the road,” she said.
“I understand that some people will never respect other road users, but I’m not about to give up.”
However, Ms Macmanomy told H&H she is now “terrified to hack out”.
A solicitor’s letter claiming that the lorry driver had driven contrary to The Highway Code and, as a result, hit the horse, was sent to the defendant’s insurance company in May 2014.
The insurer did not accept liability at first, so the solicitor requested the driver’s tachograph logs.
Liability was accepted in October 2014.
An offer of £25,000 was put forward by the defendant’s insurer, which was not accepted.
The offer of £30,000 was accepted last month.
Hanna Campbell, of HorseSolictor, said: “On examining the evidence, we pushed for an admission of liability to avoid unnecessary and time-consuming litigation.”
She added that this enabled Ms Macmanomy to concentrate on her recovery.
“Ultimately, this case was about Claire getting her life back, and our role was to ensure that she was provided with the means to achieve this,” she said.
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Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.