An owner hopes to raise driver awareness after releasing shocking footage of a car cutting across the road in front of her lorry, forcing her to “slam on her brakes”.
Linda Faulks was travelling on the A68 at 9.30am with her eight-year-old 17hh part-bred Clydesdale, Bentley, in her 7.5T lorry on Sunday (28 October) on her way to the Scottish National Equestrian Centre.
Linda told H&H: “The car appeared to have seen us and initially slowed down so I wasn’t worried, then suddenly the car shot across the road in front of me and I had to slam on the brakes. The driver paid no attention at all and didn’t even look.”
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PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don’t just nip in front of a horse lorry because we’re going a bit slower, it’s not like you didn’t see us ? we have livestock on the back and when you have to break hard at 55mph with over a half tonne animal on back they’re not just going to stand still. I now have a bent partition and hopefully not a sore horse because you just wanted to get across quickly in front of us ???Posted by BB Equestrian on Sunday, October 28, 2018
Linda continued: “They were driving a Mini – if I had hit them I hate to think what would have happened. I have a camera in the back of the lorry and could see Bentley was ok and he hadn’t fallen over, but later we found the partition had bent where he must have hit it with some force and he had a small cut on his nose. Thank goodness he’s fine, that’s the main thing.”
Linda didn’t report the incident, but hopes the video will raise awareness among other drivers.
“I don’t want to start a witch hunt, but I want to share the video and hope people will step back and think. There’s a real lack of awareness and knowledge from drivers that there is an animal in the back of a horse lorry,” she said.
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“People don’t realise we need to take that bit of extra time braking – we don’t want to send our horse into a partition or breast bar. My husband isn’t horsey but having been in the lorry with me he’s now realised what it’s like and gives people that are in a lorry or towing extra space. People are so impatient, they just don’t think.”
Linda always drives with a dash camera after previous bad experiences.
“I’ve had to pull up on the verge before because someone overtook me on a blind corner and the car on the other side had to pull up on the verge too and the person just drove off like nothing had happened,” she said.
Linda continued: “You leave a lot of space in front of you so that you can break safely, but then you get someone that comes along, sees the space and thinks they can just nip in and then you need to slam the brakes on.”
Linda said it’s “great” people are sharing the video which has had 3500 views.
“Even if it changes one person’s perception about how much space and time they give lorries and trailers then that’s a bonus,” she said. “A lorry carrying more weight might not have stopped in time.”
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Since joining H&H in 2018, Becky has covered a broad range of equestrian news including welfare matters, veterinary studies, FEI Tribunal hearings and road safety campaigns. She has also interviewed top riders including Scott Brash, John Whitaker and Ian Stark, to name just a few. Becky’s reporting has taken her to Canada for Spruce Meadows and France for Pau five-star, as well as the Royal Highland and Blair Castle International Horse Trials closer to home. She was also a key part of the remote reporting team for the Tokyo Olympics and the Europeans.
