Investigating injuries in British horse riders on public roads

(c) Sitikka Dreamstime.com

Female equestrians and younger riders are more likely to be injured in incidents involving horses on
public roads in Great Britain according to recent research.

 Horses and road vehicles are not ideal partners and can be a dangerous combination. In any confrontation between a horse and a vehicle, the horse and rider are at a significant disadvantage, and usually come off worst.

 

In England and Wales, (but not Scotland) equestrians are only permitted to use public off-road routes that have been specifically designated for horse use. This means that only a limited number of public off-road routes are available for horse riders to use. Consequently, they often find themselves riding on public roads.

 

A study, led by Danica Pollard for the British Horse Society, looked at the human injuries resulting from interactions between ridden horses and other road users on public roads in Great Britain. The work is published in the Journal of Safety Research.

 

The researchers extracted data from the Department for Transport (DfT) database on road incidents involving ridden horses, recorded by the police between 2010 and 2019. The records were analysed (using multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression modelling) to identify factors that were associated with severe or fatal injuries.

 

The data included 1,031 injury incidents involving ridden horses, involving 2,243 road users. 

 

Analysis showed that 81% of casualties were female, 84% were horse riders and 25% were 20 years old or younger. Horse riders accounted for 238/267 serious injuries and 17/18 fatalities. 

 

Vehicles most often involved in serious or fatal injuries were cars (53.4%) and vans (9.8%).

 

Other points to emerge were that the risk of severe or fatal injury increased with increasing road user age, and on roads with higher speed limits.

 

The researchers also found that the risk of severe or fatal injury was higher among older road users and on roads with higher speed limits.

 

They conclude: “Improved equestrian road safety will largely impact females and young people as well as reducing risk of severe/fatal injuries in older road users and those using modes of transport such as pedal-cycles and motorcycles. 

 

“Our findings support existing evidence that reductions in speed limits on rural roads would help reduce the risk of serious/fatal injuries.” 

 

 

For more details, see: 

 

Cars dent, horse riders break: Analysis of police-recorded injury incidents involving ridden horses on public roads in Great Britain.

Danica Pollard, John Duncan Grewar.

Journal of Safety Research (2023), Vol 84, pp 86-98

 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2022.10.010