'SLOW down and pass horses with care' was the message from campaigners as they took to the roads to try and make routes safer.
And villagers told how they had received ‘abuse’ from drivers as they walked or rode along country roads.
Gill Reese organised a walk involving horse riders and local residents as part of nationwide ‘Pass Wide and Slow’ campaign, which aims to make horse riding, walking and cycling on roads safer, educate road users and reduce the number of injuries and deaths linked to 'careless driving'.
A convoy of two cars, two riders and three villagers started at the Gamekeeper in Charminster on Saturday and headed north along the A352 to Herrison bridge, then through to Charlton Down.
Motorists are advised to travel at a maximum speed 15mph when overtaking horses and leave a gap of 1.5 metres in order to safely overtake.
Latest figures from the British Horse Society reveal there have been 1,010 road incidents involving horses, including 46 horse deaths and 130 people injured between February 2020 and February 2021.
Mrs Reese, from Forston, wanted to highlight how drivers need to be slow and cautious.
She added: “These are two very big halves of a parish and they’re joined by two 60mph roads. People in the past have begged the parish council to do something about it and nothing has been done.
“This is a nationwide pass wide and slow campaign for horse riders and all vulnerable road users.”
No dangerous driving or overtaking was seen in the near hour walk, which Mrs Reese believed this was down to a 'clearly visible' procession. She however stressed that it is 'a different story' when horse riders are on their own on country roads.
Mrs Reese said: “When it’s an individual, be on foot, bike or horse and goes it alone, it’s a completely different matter. There’s no witnesses and some motorists think they can race past them, scare the living daylights out of them, give them a near miss and drive off and get away with it."
Mrs Reese said there had been many 'near misses' in the village and said it 'happens all the time'.
Citing her own experiences, she said: “I can’t even cut the hedge outside our house as motorists give you about an inch. You are also nearly being hit by wing mirrors.
"With horses riders, it is absolutely horrific. Some motorists come up behind and have no patience. We know there’s a blind corner and we have gone into single file and we don’t want to be hit by an oncoming vehicle. The motorist behind loses patience, puts their foot down and an oncoming car comes around the corner and has to slam on the brakes. We have seen this time and time again.”
Concerned resident Pat Cunningham added: “We also get abuse. Either physical signs or verbal abuse.”
Mrs Reese said that while motorists should be 'cautious' around horse riders and cyclists, she believed the area would benefit from a reduced speed limit.
She has called for the speed limit to be halved to 30mph on the A352 outside of Charminster up to its junction for Herrison road, as well on Herrison road up to the Sherren Avenue junction into Charlton Down.
Mrs Cunningham added: "So many parents feel that the roads aren’t safe enough for their children to walk to school so with the national campaign to get children walking, this is important.”
"I just want people to please pass slow and wide and just be kind to us.”
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