Nottinghamshire horse riders call for 'overtake' speed limit

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-37534079

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More than 100 horses and their riders have taken a route through city streets to call for legislation to slow down vehicle drivers.

Protestors rode to Nottingham Castle from Wollaton Park to demand a 15mph (24kph) speed limit when motorists see horses on the road.

Nottinghamshire County Council has supported the campaign.

More than 2,000 incidents involving horses and vehicles in the UK have been reported in the past five years.

Reflective armbands

The council is supplying reflective armbands to riders which can be strapped to their arms and contain medical information and emergency contacts.

Nottinghamshire County Councillor Glynn Gilfoyle said: "It's hoped that the armbands will make horse riders more visible and the awareness event will help send out the message to motorists that they need to be mindful of horse riders when on the road."

Penny Stocks from the Horse Awareness Campaign said: "I've had some scary incidents with speeding cars, including one car which was so close to my horse that it ripped off one of its stirrups.

"We were lucky not to have been seriously hurt."

Mrs Stocks said there are an estimated three million horse riders in the UK, many of whom have to ride on the road to reach bridleways and other off-road facilities.

She said the group would also like to see learner drivers shown how to overtake horses as part of their driving training.