A road safety campaign to reduce injuries and deaths as a result of vehicles passing too close to horses has been launched by Police Scotland, with support from the British Horse Society and Glasgow City Council.
The ‘Lose the Blinkers’ campaign is aimed at all road users, with particular emphasis in places like Arran, where many horse riders exercise their mounts in the evenings and at weekends. According to the British Horse Society, since 2010 there have been 50 riders injured, two deaths, 43 horses injured and 10 horses killed on Scotland’s roads. Many of these have been due to vehicles either colliding or passing too close to the horse, causing them to throw the rider or to panic and bolt.
Society director of safety Alan Hiscox said: ‘We want to remind drivers that horses can be unpredictable, and even the most well-trained horse can react to its instincts and want to move quickly away from what they consider to be a threat.’