New Highway Code rule of 2 metres between cars and horses for overtaking

[01iv30i1]

If not possible you must wait.

Those of us who live and use country lanes with no alternative are now going to take hours to get anywhere.

@RoyalFamilyFan

I have never seen a horse rider go on a verge when passing a car.

On the narrow lanes here they will often pull in at a gateway. I get that they don’t have to.

I always carry a schooling whip when riding on the roads, it's 1m long and if a car is close I will hold it out at an angle, its scary how many cars touch it

@MaybeHeIsMyCat You have to have the money to spend in the first place on it to then be skint.
Anyway I know the people there. Some like the local GP who also hunts would claim to be skint, they bloody are not.

You've never seen a horse rider pull a horse over into the verge to let cars past? Really?

Mind you, you have those special 2m wide horses where you live don't you? The ones that apparently take up a whole car's width on the road.

[quote RoyalFamilyFan]@MaybeHeIsMyCat You have to have the money to spend in the first place on it to then be skint.
Anyway I know the people there. Some like the local GP who also hunts would claim to be skint, they bloody are not.[/quote]
It depends how you keep them
I am not rich, by any means, I earn 24k a year and loaned a horse. It's just a bit offensive when everyone refers to plebs and rich people and I was working as a carer...

@FatFredsFriedEgg I have never seen a horse rider take their horse up onto the verges. They are not flat. They are sloped.

This thread reminds me of the jokes you see where people move to the countryside then complain about farms doing farm things

@MaybeHeIsMyCat but you dont have a horse if it is loaned?
Is it loaned from your well off family?

@MissMinutes24

I honestly think whoever they got to update the Highway Code has never driven a car and hates motorists. I speak as an avid pedestrian of and only recent driver.

Hardly, they've simply realised that our car-centric attitudes need to change. Drivers are not the most important people on the roads just because they can afford a polluting SUV

If you are on a country lane and there is no way to get past most people on horses will pull over and let you by anyway. The same cannot be said for some/most MAMILs on bikes but when I've been out on group rides we have pulled over to let cars by when we could.

If there is no space to overtake safely you do not pass. It's that simple. If you don't like it, use the motorway instead. If there isn't a motorway to use, you have to be patient.

@Mogul

This thread reminds me of the jokes you see where people move to the countryside then complain about farms doing farm things

Honestly that comment makes me angry. My family are the people muck spreading, moving cattle across roads, driving tractors, while the rich incomers with horses complain. Riding is for nearly everyone a leisure activity.

This is all a bit bizarre to me.

If it’s wide enough for 2 cars to pass, it is wide enough to safely pass a horse, and the rider will almost certainly let you know the best point to do that - either by waving you past, or by pulling closer to the hedge or up on a verge or into a gateway.

You’d be really weird if you then decided you couldn’t pass them because it was only 1.78m gap, or whatever. The rider doesn’t want you to follow them at a crawl for miles.

This is a bit of a fuss about nothing.

I'm not sure you have to be well off to have a horse, mine costs roughly £250 a month, I don't have kids and would guess that people with kids spend that at least that much on having a child without being rich

@JuergenSchwarzwald riding schools tend to be fine. Individual riders can be shits and often do not pull over at all.

I used to live in the countryside and know a few riders, all of whom have stories of idiots almost getting them killed by speeding past, revving and honking at them to hurry up.

I get that if can be annoying to wait five minutes but it's less annoying than worrying that you might get thrown off your horse.

@RoyalFamilyFan me too, not got an issue with horses

@01iv30i1

If not possible you must wait.

Those of us who live and use country lanes with no alternative are now going to take hours to get anywhere.

Are you saying you don’t currently allow a safe gap when overtaking horses?

[quote RoyalFamilyFan]@MaybeHeIsMyCat but you dont have a horse if it is loaned?
Is it loaned from your well off family?[/quote]
Loaned. It started as a part loan, and then evolved over 10 years, nobody else rode her and I had responsibility for all the care etc of her

My point is, people see someone on a horse, on the road and say pleb/rich/well off and just assume when you never really know
I've said before "I was out hacking.." and people are oh you're minted then. Er, no

Is that a new rule at all? It was always specified that you need to leave enough space when overtaking bikes and horses as if you were overtaking a car. That is approximately 2 meters and that rules has been there at least for 20 years!

Cars are expensive too and aren't cheap to run

@GrandmasCat the wording has changed to specify speed and distance. There are also changes with regards to priority/right of way

@MaybeHeIsMyCat Sure there are always exceptions, but it is usually the case.

[quote RoyalFamilyFan]@MaybeHeIsMyCat You have to have the money to spend in the first place on it to then be skint.
Anyway I know the people there. Some like the local GP who also hunts would claim to be skint, they bloody are not.[/quote]
Hmm.
We have a local handyman married to a part-time mobile hairdresser; they have two horses. A lot of riding instructors, who have no other income, own horses (I know one who breeds horses on land she rents). The world is full of teenagers who make themselves useful so that they can exercise other people's horses.

Most people who own horses aren't poor, but there are plenty who are very far from rich.

I always give horses a wide berth when overtaking, as those buggers can't half kick. Plus, I ride and try and to extend the courtesy I'd like to receive.

YABU obvs!

Whoops I mean YABU obviously!

@Grumpyosaurus you cant always tell wealth just based on jobs. A lot of people inherit for example.