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??

It's pretty simple - you drive at a speed from which you can stop within the distance you can see is clear. Assume the road is not clear until you can see it is.

What should have done? Been driving slower.

You def need to be going round blind corners slow enough that you stop, which you actually did. If you screeched to a halt inches off the horse's arse, needs to be a bit slower. The rider was likely just spooked and took it out on you if you werent near him, its REALLY nerve wracking riding on roads, i cant do it anymore.

Simply being on the road is not being a hazard
They have every right to be there...

Thanks, I was minded to post similar but then wondered if perhaps it had changed in the 50 years since I passed my test! Anyway, it's common sense and also one of the reasons why they have signs warning that a bend is coming up so that you have time to slow down.

Learn your lesson, OP, and approach bends more slowly in future.

Do you always drive fast around country bends? Thete could have been a broken down car, farm machinery, horses , kids on ponies etc. Sorry you need to keep your speed down the national speed isn't a target

We all make mistakes when driving OP. Like others have said, take care on bends especially country roads. 40ph doesn't seem fast but if you come across an obstacle it is tricky to slow down quickly.

Horserider is also taking a bit of a risk riding on a 60mph right enough!

These near misses make us better drivers usually and they happen to the best of us.

I’m v glad that you’re ok and no one was hurt! Definitely in future, limit your speed to keep yourself safe.

I was actually driving on some rural/country roads near me this morning - speed signs say 60 (frankly insane) but I won’t drive above 30 on them (and I slow right down on bends): that probably pisses people off, but I know these roads well - there are blind corners, bends, horse riders, walkers, cyclists, farm vehicles etc. Every so often, I’ll pull in a lay-by to let others pass me. In the end, I want to get from A to B safely, and if that takes a few more minutes, then so be it.

I know what the law is - I’m merely commenting from what I’ve observed about the practicalities. I live rurally and am horse/cycle/tractor etc aware. But not everyone is and the animals should be protected.

I won't travel in my friend's car any more, after the day she hurtled round a bend far too fast and nearly slammed into a post office van. She's a truly appalling driver and it terrifies me. She seems truly oblivious to what's going on around her half the time.

If you know the law... dont be on here advocating for horse to go on footpaths.
We cant, we wont and to have people shouting at us to get off the road and onto the footpath just adds another layer of stress....

This is basically how my dbro died! He was a pedestrian crossing the road beyond a bridge with a blind summit. The car came over at speed and couldn’t stop in time. The footpath came out to the road and continued the other side so it was inevitable he crossed where he did.

As others have said, if you can’t see around the bend you need to slow in anticipation. There could have been a stationary vehicle, group of pedestrians, anything!

It’s good you are shaken up, hopefully it will make you more cautious in future. Our family has been devastated by the loss of my dbro, be thankful you were able to stop and didn’t inflict that pain on another family.

Speed limits are advisory, it’s not mandatory that you drive at 60mph, you drive according to the conditions.

I’m a horse rider and a driver, the stables that I use are on a 60mph rural road, but I am always cautious because of horses but also slow moving farm vehicles and oncoming vehicles.

It sounds like a genuine error, the only advice I can give is to drive more cautiously in future, if it isn’t a straight clear road ahead then reduce your speed.

@Redstorm2807 - "... 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..."

Well of course that is a sensible - and legally correct - option!

You sound like a really dangerous driver if the moment you leave a 30mph limit you are looking to accelerate up to the permitted maximum despite not knowing what is around the corner ahead. You and the driver behind you should not have needed to make emergency stops to avoid hitting the horse and rider.

The rider was 100% justified in displaying their anger

A lot of rural roads have 60mph limits, the stables that I use is in beautiful countryside but the road outside it, although pretty much single track, is a 60mph road, so riders don’t have a choice.

Lack of places to ride, have to use roads to reach bridleways.. etc. We aren’t allowed on footpaths, pavements or in random fields (as everyone thinks!)
I am fortunate to have a farm to ride around. I rarely use the roads nowadays as they terrify me. If I do I go out early on quiet roads. My horses are my whole world, I hate putting them in danger.

If you were doing 40 out of a village on a blind corner sounds like you could have hit the animal and rider or anyone else in your way and you are at fault. Just slow down. It’s perfectly acceptable to do less than 30 in a village and when leaving one. Most people would thank you for being sensible. Im sure the rider and horse are more shaken up than you

I'm a rider and hate being on the road as I'm always imagining this scenario.

A rider from a stables I rode at long ago was killed, and so was her horse. It was slightly different in that they were negotiating a turn across a fast road, but still.

Lesson learned. I'm not going to pile on. You were thoroughly shaken by this, and of course, so was the rider. Luckily the horse was sensible about it! Mine would not have been. That's why I moved him to a stable where no road work was needed, even though it added a half hour to my commute. It's just terrifying what can happen on the roads.

Well done @Redstorm2807 .

You came, you asked if you were being unreasonable, posters confirmed (nicely!) that you were, supplied supporting evidence as to why and you accepted it graciously so you and plenty others that read the post will learn from it!

And, all within the first page!

Glad this has been helpful for you and an important lesson learnt with no harm done :)
I live in the suburbs and there is a blind bend in the road near my house that always has a car parked on it (tbh this is the main problem and they really shouldn't park there) and people always take the bend really fast, I am certain one day there will be a nasty accident

Yes like others have said, we do it because we have no choice - I don't know any rider that finds being on the roads relaxing, between speedy drivers, hoardes of cyclists suddenly zooming up silently behind you, kids on scooters darting out into your path, loose aggressive dogs chasing you, it's not much fun out there. If we all had the option to ride exclusively on bridlepaths or on private land I suspect we'd all take it and you'd never see another horse on the roads again! But sadly outside very fancy private estates and a few lucky souls who live inside national parks or with extensive bridlepaths on their doorstep, pretty much everyone has to do at least a stretch of road to get to somewhere safe to ride...

I can see it would be more stressful
for you. I just cringe regularly for the horses. They’ve no choice where they’re ridden.

I moved to a similar area last year, and I see this all the time. People familiar with lanes that have lots of twisty bends going far too fast for the conditions, taking bends wide because of their speed, hanging on my bumper because they want to go faster, etc. I also see lots of cars in the ditches, some upside down. The bottom line is that if you can't see around a corner, assume there's an idiot lorry at 50mph in the centre of the road. It concentrates the mind on the correct speed to be doing.

BTW, if you are one of the drivers on my bumper, that doesn't make me speed up, it makes me slow down. If you won't observe stopping distances then I am always happy to help you out.

This is the trouble where we live. Ridiculous being a 60 limit. So dangerous.

As a rider, it can be terrifying hearing someone coming really fast behind you and realising there is nowhere for you to tuck in.

If I’m approaching a corner on a rural road, I always slow down no matter what the speed limit. You never know what’s round there. I was taught to always drive defensively. You were lucky this time and maybe a bit of a shakeup is a valuable lesson.