A change in the way ridden and driven horses are officially perceived could boost safety – as the latest stats showed 58 horses were killed on Britain’s roads last year.
The British Horse Society (BHS) released its 2024 road incident figures yesterday (29 January), three years after changes to the Highway Code guidance on passing horses came into effect.
In total, 3,118 incidents were reported to the BHS, which the charity’s head of safety Alan Hiscox told H&H is “the tip of the iceberg”. These included 80 human and 97 equine injuries and the total number of reported incidents was 8% down on 2023 (see below). This takes the total number of recorded road incidents since November 2010 to 18,683, causing 47 human and 697 equine deaths, and 1,782 human and 1,625 equine injuries.
“These figures are still shocking,” Mr Hiscox said. “Although there’s been a slight decrease, 58 horses died on our roads last year and more than 3,100 incidents were reported to us. And we know only about 15% of incidents are reported to us.”
Mr Hiscox reiterated the call he has made before; to all those who experience an incident, whether a collision or a near-miss or similar, to report it to the BHS as this allows them to lobby local and national government, police and road safety partnerships for change, as well as identifying accident hot spots at which action can be taken.
“It’s absolutely vital equestrians let us know what’s happening on the roads,” he said.
In the updated Highway Code, which came into force in 2022, drivers are urged to pass horses no faster than 10mph and leaving at least two metres space. But 81% of the reported incidents involved drivers who did not adhere to this guidance.
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Mr Hiscox said that too few drivers are aware of these changes, even now; as part of the BHS Dead Slow road safety awareness campaign, he visits motoring shows every year.
“At Carfest last summer, we asked more than 300 drivers if they knew about the specific changes relating to horses and only 2% knew,” he said. “At a national air show, it was 5%. So there’s a huge amount of work to do on awareness.”
Mr Hiscox would like to see the government department for transport (DfT) doing more to raise awareness of the changes – “they’ve really pushed the cyclist ones, which is fine, but I think it’s been to the detriment of equestrians,” he said. He will carry on with the multiple award-winning safety campaign; speaking at national conferences, visiting shows and working with driving instructors, councils, police and road safety partnerships.
“And we want to get the horse recognised as a subject, not an object,” he said. “Police consider the horse as property but we want to see the horse and rider or driver both as the vulnerable road users, not just the person. I don’t know if it needs a change of legislation or mindset. There’s lots more to do but we’ve hit the ground running.
“Only through working collaboratively and by evidencing that an issue of equestrian safety still remains, can we stop these awful incidents from happening, time and time again.”
A DfT spokesperson referred H&H to a comment made by future of roads minister Lilian Greenwood, in response to a road safety question asked in parliament.
Ms Greenwood said an awareness campaign about “the changes” to the Highway Code was launched in 2022, followed by “broader behaviour change campaigns in the summers of 2022 and 2023, to help embed the changes and encourage understanding and uptake of the guidance”
“Over £2.4m has been spent on media across the campaign,” she said.
“Campaign outcomes include 86% of road users having heard of the changes by September 2023, and 81% of drivers claiming to leave a gap of 1.5m when passing a cyclist all or most of the time. We will continue to promote the Highway Code changes on THINK! and DfT social media channels and via our partner organisations.”
To report an incident, visit the BHS website or the Horse i app
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
