What should I have done? (almost hit horse and rider with my car)

[Redstorm2807]

Posting for traffic as feeling really shaken up by this incident and honestly not sure what I should have done differently.

Driving yesterday afternoon, come out of a village with a 30 limit onto a country road section which is a 60 limit. Accelerated out of village so probably doing 40 ish when I come round a corner and find a large horse with a rider walking very slowly in the road in front of me. There is a car coming in the other direction so I do an emergency stop and thankfully come to a stop a few metres away. The car behind also has to do emergency stop.

The horse thankfully was not spooked by this and continues walking on but the rider is very angry, shouting and waving his hands at me.

I slowly drive past the horse and continue on my way. I always drive very slowly near horses

I don't speed, I'm one of those people who do 30 until the speed sign in a village (we live fairly rurally so lots of journeys are short stretches of 30 through villages then stretches of 60 between).

Thinking about it I'm not sure there was anything else I could have done differently apart from drive at slowly all the time which obviously isn't a sensible option. I could have been doing 50 or 60 by that point if I had accelerated harder in which case I would have likely killed the horse, rider and possibly myself.

I'm still feeling quite shaken the day after and worried about it happening again - is there something I'm missing or is this just the risk we take when driving??

Sorry that happened. It sounds scary. It’s the corner that’s the issue. Sounds like a blind corner and you need to slow more (regardless of the speed of the road). I had a similar experience with a massive lorry on a 60 road last week but I’d slowed to about 25-30 for the corner and could brake more when I saw it.

Be aware there could be an obstacle around a bend. Pedestrians,tractors cyclists…

The speed limit is irrelevant you weren't driving for the conditions. If you have a blind bend you need to slow down just in case.

If you can't see what's in front of you, you drive with caution.
Obviously you could not see what was round the corner, so you should have been driving slower than you were.
Thankfully no one was hurt.
I knew a girl who was horse riding and a carless driver knocked down the horse, killed it, and the girl was badly hurt.

You need to go slower around bends, especially on these types of roads.

I suppose that summarises it pretty well! I think I've become too familiar with these roads - alarmingly I see so many people take corners as fast as they can rather than as fast as is sensible. Thanks

You should have been going slower round the corner if it was so tight you couldn’t see what was ahead.

You should always be able to stop in the distance you can see to be clear (have just checked the Highway Code and it is rule 126):
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/general-rules-techniques-and-advice-for-all-drivers-and-riders-103-to-158
You were clearly going too fast - the speed limit is a maximum not a guide.
Sorry, I probably sound a bit harsh but I am a rider and fed up of people coming round corners too fast.

Yeah it sounds excessive but I drive like there’s a horse or a bunch of cyclists round every blind bend. Because often there is!

One memorable journey with my DS driving had him muttering “please don’t be a cyclist” round every corner!

And I totally understand why now, well, lesson learnt. Thankfully managed to learn it without causing any damage to anyone.

This and it’s slightly concerning this wasn’t obvious to you.

You should be going slowly enough around a blind bend that you can stop for any obstruction. It could have been a breakdown or an accident?

Like everyone said: where you lack visibility of the road ahead, you drive like there is a major obstacle just out of view, because you should expect there to be. It doesn't really matter what it is (horse, cyclist, broken down vehicle, child that's darted into the road); you anticipate it and only accelerate when you have visibility.

You should’ve been going a bit steadier given you couldn’t see around the corner but sometimes these things happen and we make calls based on complacency when we know the roads well. You’ll think more in future, and that can only be a good thing.
As a horse rider, I can understand his reaction. It can be bloody scary riding out on the roads, even on a sensible horse as he obviously was.

There can be anything around a blind bend. Roadworks. Broken down car, cyclists, pedestrians.

The 60 mph limit does not mean you can go on the road at 60 mph at all times. Only that that is the limit and you can travel at that speed maximum if it is safe to do so.

In this case it sounds like you should have been navigating the bend more cautiously at a slower speed until you regained sight of what was ahead. If you can't see what is ahead you should be travelling more slowly so you can come to a halt without needing to do an emergency stop.

My guess is if you had hit the horse you would have been done for dangerous driving/driving with undue care and attention, even if you were going well below the speed limit.

As police officers often drone on, the speed limit is a limit. Not a target to be attained.

No harm done this time thankfully, but lesson learned. Always assume there may be something around a corner when you can’t see. A half tonne horse landing on a windscreen is as likely to kill the driver as the horse and rider. It’s easy to get complacent when it’s a familiar route.

This has been really helpful - I needed a head wobble. Thanks everyone :)

You drive according to the road situation, as per the law! Good grief OP, I'm baffled why you seem confused by this.

That horse and rider had every right to be there. What if it had been a stationary vehicle, a pedestrian who had fallen into the road, a tree that had come down?

Learn to drive around corners at an appropriate speed that you can safely stop if you suddenly come across an obstacle just out of sight around the bend.

P.s. a horse's arse through the windscreen is not something to mess around with, even if you don't care a jot about the animal or the (justifiably angry) rider. You are bloody lucky you didn't come across a spooky horse.

Like everyone else has said you need to slow down if you can’t see what is ahead of you for the simple reason that you can’t see what is ahead of you

I live in the New Forest it's well known we have all kinds of large mammals wandering about all the day and night. Yet every year several lives of all kinds are lost though people driving too fast for the conditions.

I also worked rurally in areas that don't have lounging animals everywhere. Even in these places animals could get onto the road because some pillock can't shut gates properly

I agree with the pp who say to drive slow when visibility is difficult and as though there are surprises around every corner.

Op, if you genuinely need people to tell you you don’t go round a blind bend at 60, or even 40, then can you do a top up type driving lesson?

The question to always ask yourself for any situation is 'Can I stop safely and easily in the amount of road surface I can see to be clear'? It sounds like you could stop, but not safely and easily so probably a little fast. It might only be 5mph, but that would make all the difference.

Anyone can be one used to the roads anywhere. Sometimes we need a gentle kick up the backside

There but for the grace of God go I

I imagine you would have worked this out on your own if asked abstractly the day before yesterday so probably you’re still a bit shaken up by it.

Yeah slower round bends, could have been a tractor, broken down vehicle, or anything there. Well done for owning it.

No harm done on this occasion and it will make you think twice