9,600km of NZ Roads Ridden, Larissa’s Stories of Near Misses
Have you ever had a car pass you so close that you could have moved your foot 2cm and made contact with it? So fast that it would have just about taken your foot off? While that isn't the only near miss I've had while out riding my horse, it was most certainly the scariest one.
In riding 9,600 km around New Zealand I have had to use more roads than I would have liked to and experienced every aspect of road user behavior around horses along the way.
Those following the road rules would slow down as soon as they saw me (lit up like a road cone with all my hi vis) and pass as wide as possible to give my horse Sprite enough space. Some people didn't know what to do at all so they would idle behind me and reluctantly pass when I waved them on. But the vast majority would either slow down but stay in my lane and pass close or keep going fast but pass wide. Both scenarios leave little room and reaction time available if Sprite spooked.
Some motorbike drivers were exceedingly courteous, and others intentionally revved their engines and made them backfire to try and scare my horse. We've had people squeeze past on blind corners, come closer to us while passing rather than going wide, speed up while passing, and many just act like we are not there at all.
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And don't get me started on the number of people that have passed us on double yellow lines, endangering both their safety and mine!
Ever seen what happens to a car when it hits a horse?
It's not pretty. A horse can spook sideways at 75 km/h and be right in front of your car in a second. This is why it is so important to give us space.
I always feel 'naughty' about being on busy or narrow roads, despite the fact that we have just as much right to be there as the cars. I certainly try to avoid such roads and take smaller back roads wherever possible. However, in some instances there is no other option for us, or the back road turns out to be busy too. I thank every car I can, especially those that try to be kind to us.
I wait for traffic to pass whenever I can, and don't hold anyone up longer than needed. I use every bit of the road verges that I safely can, though too many of them are not usable. They may look wide, but chances are they have a sneaky ditch in them, or constant road signs parked in the way, or long grass with big holes in it. Or we can't ride on the verges because of the loose stones, rubbish and broken glass all over them.
Riding is about the journey not the destination. Hi vis is one of the ways to stay on the journey home.
Many people would say it's too dangerous, don't ride on roads in the first place. Fair enough, it is dangerous. It isn't somewhere I like to be and it makes me sick thinking what could happen. But if I don't fight for my right to be there, who will? If horses are never ridden on roads, how can we expect drivers to know what to do around them? If we stop doing every risky thing possible, what will the world become?
I'm lucky with Sprite that she barely flinches and is completely bombproof to traffic with all the exposure she's had
One thing she doesn't like is when a truck overtakes someone coming the other way, so they come over into our lane and are literally barreling straight for us. That's a bit scary, especially with the wall of air hitting us as they go past. But all in all, she just lets the traffic do its thing and gets on with her day.
Even then, she could spook at something on the side of the road, like the time we passed an injured hawk rustling around in long grass and she couldn't figure out what it was, or when she stepped in some discarded wire that tangled in her legs and caused her to buck me off in the middle of the road. These are the times when a badly timed car passing us without slowing enough or giving us space would hit us and potentially kill us both.
The same goes for every rider who is just trying to get to their local beach or ride to an arena to exercise their horse. Or they're out for a nice road ride because WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE THERE TOO. Along with cyclists and walkers. The only roads in NZ that are meant only for cars are the motorways, though NZTA seem to have forgotten us when they put things like crash barriers right in the middle of the verge, and drivers have been trained to think we shouldn't be on most roads.
Horses, cyclists and pedestrians have a right to be on any road (except motorways) and the right to be safe there.
So please take a minute to think about your driving habits. If you come across someone or something on the road that is slower than you, SLOW down, WAIT until it is safe to pass (hint, not on double yellow lines!) and pass WIDE and SLOW.
That's all we're asking for, a minute of your time to keep me and my horse out of your windshield.
Larissa from Home Free