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??

I’m going to sound unkind here but your post triggered rage in me and I’m glad you’re shaken up - I presume you are nowhere near as shaken as the rider. I have NEVER forgotten an inquest I attended where one rider died and the other ended up in a wheelchair for life , plus 2 horses killed - all due to some thoughtless, selfish driver rounding a blind corner at speed. He didn’t even get done for dangerous driving but for “ driving without caution”. The parents had a life sentence of mourning. Yes, lots of drivers drive like total dickheads in the country. You don’t have to be one of them.

How fast do you think you go around a blind bend then?

I do lots of lane driving, including single lane road. I still slow right down when I go round blind bends. I don’t know what speed but slow enough that I can stop if I need to. I guess there are varying degrees of blind bends but some of the ones where I live you literally can’t see what’s around the corner so 10mph isn’t unreasonable. You have to remember that there could easily be someone coming towards you who thinks it’s ok to drive at 30 even though they can’t see what is around the corner. That end up with a 40mph collision.
The stopping distance at 30mph is about 6 car lengths.
Briefly slowing down to a safe speed while you go around a blind bend is hardly going to add much time to anyone’s journey. It’s only for a few moments while you corner.

It's actually wild that some of those country roads are a 60 mph zone. I take my dogs to an enclosed dog park which is down a narrow country lane, it's a 60 road. It's an accident waiting to happen.

I think the reality has escaped a few on here, if everybody dramatically slowed down to between 10 to 30 mph for every bend in a road then there be a surge of accidents! Because bends come up without warning and are you can't just suddenly drop from 60 to 10 safely! 60 to 40 is sensible but to jam on to get from 60 to as low as 10 as soon as you see a bend is crazy dangerous.

The police don't approve of hesitant drivers either! And the reality is that if you start driving that erratically or drastically slowing down for every bend, you know exactly what the traffic behind you is going to do! They will want to overtake and will take risks to do it! I've had idiots on my side of the road coming at me head on as I've approached a bend! There is a point where slow and hesitant driving becomes as deadly as speeding.

I used to horse ride in my teens in the middle nineties and it wasn't fun riding on roads then and I wouldn't want to do it now when you've got modified cars/bikes and exploding exhaust pipes you can hear half a mile away!

@FlyMeSomewhere
60 to 40 is sensible but to
jam on to get from 60 to as low
as 10 as soon as you see a bend is crazy dangerous.

😅No one has suggested slowing down to 10mph whenever they see a bend. I really think posters are talking at cross purposes when describing a ‘blind bend’. Around where I live there are plenty of single lanes with high hedges either side and sharp bends - it would be crazy to go around those at any speed whatsoever. If a car is coming towards you then you aren’t giving yourself any time to stop.

Somebody on a post on here said that as low as 10mph wouldn't be unreasonable! I live in a county with terrible rural roads that can be ridiculous bendy so I totally agree with being as careful as possible but you'll always end up with some crackerjack up your backside though.

Yes of course it's dangerous to slam on your brakes from 60 to 10 dramatically, but there's no need to do that - on a nice straight open road sure get up to 60, then as you see a bend coming up, gradually ease off down to 10-30 depending on quite how blind it is or how wide the road is. No need for any slamming on of brakes. Then if the road stays very bendy keep at that speed until it gets straight again, if it goes back to open and straight, gently accelerate back up. It's like how when the speed limit changes for a village, I know some people feel the need to drive at 60 right up until the change then slam on the brakes but most sane people drive at a more steady speed and ease off as you see the change coming up. There's plenty of twisty roads around me where the limit is 60 but you'd be hard pushed to go at more than 40 for at least 5-10 miles of it - that's perfectly fine and safe and how the vast majority of people drive, you get the odd nutter up your tail expecting you to zoom up to 60 the second there's a tiny bit of straight but they're the ones in the wrong, the old chestnut of it's a limit not a target...

You did nothing wrong. You drove at a speed (under the max limit) where you could clearly stop if needed, as you did.

Not all bends are visible that far ahead, especially on roads that you aren't familiar with but 30 to 40 is usually ample, 10 mph is for hairpin bends! And I'm not taking about slamming on, I am talking though about slowing down extremely quickly to a very slow speed of 10mph and starting to make traffic behind get very hacked off!

Hello,

My point was more that most people on here are bullshitting. 99% if not 100% of the responses are saying that OP was going to fast and that they themselves always slow down as if there was a horse round the corner.. whereas, I think if OP was going to fast, they would have hit the horse and rider. However, OP was able to emergency stop in good time with good separation. Understandably, rider probably heard some wheels lock up behind him which made him panic and throw some gestures at driver.

Single track roads are a different story altogether. I also drive plenty of those.. and have lost count of the amount of so-called responsible drivers who come arsehole-ing round the corners and I see the sheer panic on their faces when they see another car coming the other way… I don’t know what they expect? They are not one-way roads! 10mph is absolutely not unreasonable for single track roads, I agree.

Again, my point was more towards the people on their high horses in the comments… excuse the pun ha! I can confidently bet you that most of them do not slow down to 10mph when they come to a blind bend on a single carriageway.

I live in a rural area, a 30mph village sandwiched between two national speed limits either side and the amount of times I go to pull out of the side road in the mornings and people come through the village around at least 70mph… no exaggeration. And hey-ho.. it’s usually “responsible” parents with kids in the car or work vans.

Sorry for the attack on the commenters, but be honest with yourselves! I will be the first to say I definitely don’t slow down that much, I slow to the conditions. But, I do agree you could have a stationary car round the corner, again drive to the conditions.

Pet hates: tailgating & speeding through villages/built up areas lol.

You stopped. No one was hurt. Focus on what you did achieve first.

You are correct that there are idiots who would have accelerated and killed everybody.

You now know to always be cautious going around blind bends in case there are any obstructions on the road. I live somewhere where there are sometimes tree branches in the road. They had to drop the limit from 60 to 40 because there were so many accidents.

If you can’t see around the bend you need to slow down. Anything could be there, slow moving tractor, deer, sheep, cyclists, pedestrians……
the amount of careless and clueless drivers is frightening.
i have ridden horses for 40 years. The roads now have never been more dangerous.
housing estates have been thrown up where open spaces used to be and we have to ride along roads to access bridleways. None of us want to ride in traffic because we are well aware a lot of drivers are happy to kill our horses and cause us life changing injuries to get to their destinations quicker or because they’re messing on their phones. So many drivers have no patience or common sense and will drive right up your horses arse and pass so closely they’re touching you.
Then, once we can actually access woodland or bridleways, we now have to contend with illegal off road bikers ripping about all over the place. Plus the dogs!! So many out of control dogs who will chase and jump up at your horse while their dumb ineffectual owners tell you ‘he’s only saying hello’. Drones too, bloody whizzy things flying round over your horses head.
People in general over the years have become less considerate and more entitled and infinitely more stupid.