Kill your speed before you kill a horse

Wednesday 20 April 2016

Local horseriders are planning to roll out a hard-hitting national campaign featuring an actual dead horse to get drivers here to slow down and give them a wide berth.

The Jersey branch of the British Horse Society want drivers passing horses slowing down to 15 mph - the speed they say is less likely to result in a fatal accident.

The group are working with Jersey's Road Safety Officer Philip Blake on the 'Dead or Dead Slow - think 15' road safety campaign along with the BHS Area Development Officer Jan Roche who has been visiting from the UK and who wants to get some graphic posters put up at petrol pumps around the Island showing a car accident in the UK that killed a horse.

Mrs Roche said: "Drivers who come across a horse need to slow down, wait until it's safe to pass, give one car's width and make sure they don't rev their engine or beep their horn."

Although Mr Blake says there aren't many reported injuries involving horses here, the group are worried drivers aren't factoring in that horses have a mind of their own.

Channel Islands Secretary for BHS Evie Perchard said: "I bring in ten horses, leading them, in two's from their fields every morning and, I encounter speeding, close passing, inconsiderate drivers almost every day!

"We have members commenting on Facebook that, almost daily, they also meet the same difficulty. It really does need to be highlighted and headlined before there is an horrific accident.

"It's often people on the same road, driving the same route every day and familiarity breeds contempt and they speed up.

"Horses are animals of flight. They are totally unpredictable and drivers need to consider what damage an average half-tonne animal can do."

You can find out more about the national campaign here.