Meet the Women Behind PWASUK
Debbie’s Story
My name is Debbie, and I founded the Pass Wide & Slow UK campaign back in 2016.
It all began out of frustration
I was simply fed up with drivers ignoring my hand signals, even as I was riding with my horses in situations where I needed them to slow down or stop. Many times, drivers would just wave or drive straight past, with no regard for our safety. When I looked into it, I found out something surprising: these hand signals, which seem like common sense, aren’t actually legally binding for drivers. According to the law, our signals mean virtually nothing.
That realisation was a turning point for me. It felt wrong that drivers weren’t obligated to respect the safety of horses and riders on the roads, so I decided to take action. I started a petition to add hand signals from horse riders into the Highway Code. Soon after, the momentum began to grow, and questions were coming in from all over. That’s when I decided to start a group to support the petition and advocate for equestrian road safety.
“Fast forward to today, and our group has grown to over 55,000 members, each of whom has experienced or seen similar issues with drivers. Many of our members have lost horses or loved ones due to dangerous drivers, often with no legal repercussions for those drivers. It’s incredibly sad, and it makes us wonder—why is a horse’s life not worth anything? Why are drivers allowed to get away with hitting horses and just driving off?”
In our group, we’ve encouraged everyone to use cameras while riding to capture incidents on the roads. I’ve even had meetings with my local Operation Snap to discuss equestrian safety, and they agreed to start registering horse-riding incidents in their system if riders submit videos. This collaboration has been a step forward, but there’s still much more to be done. Now, our goal is to bring this petition to Parliament and get real attention on this issue. We want stronger protections for horses and riders on the roads, and we want drivers to be accountable.
With the growth of our group and the stories of our members, I believe we have a strong case. We’re not just advocating for ourselves but for the lives of our horses and the safety of every rider out there."
Diane’s Story
Firstly, let me give you a little background about me. I am one of the lucky equestrians who remember the days when you could hack out safely on the roads, hardly come across any traffic and what traffic you did come across was always kind and courteous. You certainly did not need to wear hi vis or a headcam. Forward 40 years and sadly those days have gone as everyone is in a rush to get from A to B as fast as possible.
The shortest routes on Sat Nav’s tend to take motorists down country lanes some of which are only just 2 metres wide and the national speed limit of 60mph (UK). The normality today is dressing you and your horse up like a xmas tree with as much hi vis and sometimes lights to make yourself as visible as you can.
Sadly, though that still does not save you from dangerous motorists as I found out in 2011 when I witnessed the scene of an horrific accident which killed my friend’s horse. The motorist had made no attempt whatsoever to avoid the two horse riders (both in full hi vis, riding side by side on a wide road in perfect visibility). The driver ploughed into the back of the outer horse, flinging her into the air and killing her immediately. Fortunately, the rider was also thrown into the air on impact but landed on the grass verge. The other rider on the inside, her horse spooked, threw her and bolted down the road and was thankfully caught. The car and driver? No roof on the car and it continued for another ¾ of a mile down the road until it hit a post on a bend. The driver was not injured. The police estimated the car was doing 60mph when it hit the horse and rider.
Another friend who also helped at the scene decided to create a UK petition to reduce the speed limit on country lanes to 30mph (UK). It was whilst trying to get signatures for this that I came across the excellent work being done by Debbie Smith with her social media group Pass Wide & Slow UK. The group’s main purpose being educating motorists on how to pass horses safely on the roads but also supporting equestrians who have had motorists pass them dangerously and advising them what to do.
I quickly volunteered to help such a worthwhile cause and I’ve been one of the Admin of the group since then. Anything to try and make the roads safer for all equestrians so they don’t have to see what I witnessed that day. Sadly, this year it became obvious that UK are not the only country that have these problems.
To everyone out there….
“Equestrians worldwide - we need to come together to be a strong voice and say enough is enough. We want to be able to ride or drive our horses on the roads and be safe when we do. Motorists worldwide - please Pass Wide & Slow so we can get home safely. ”
