A New Campaign In New Zealand
 |
| https://www.facebook.com/rideforroadsafety/ |
On April 6th a new campaign for the safety of horse riders on NZ roads was launched on Facebook and so far has 1073 followers.
The aim is: "To educate NZ drivers & horse riders about rider signals, horse behaviour & appropriate driver behaviour. To be able to ride our rural roads in safety."
"RIDE FOR ROAD SAFETY is a national initiative to bring horse riders all over New Zealand together to ride our public roads, all at the same time, on the same day, in potentially the largest equestrian event New Zealand has ever seen!
We want to bring attention to the current lack of road rules concerning horses on roads & to educate all road users (horse riders, cyclists, drivers) on 'best practice' to avoid incidents between horses & vehicles on roads.
RFRS would like to see specific rules put in place with regard to riding horses on roads.
Some of the changes & clarifications we would like to see:
- 20 km/hr speed limit past horses on the road
- 2m space between horse/rider/carriage & vehicle when passing
- Horses to have right of way on bridges
- Make it an offence for vehicles to accelerate, rev their engine, or toot their horn next to horses
- Universal understanding, use & adherence to rider/carriage driver/handler hand signals
- Compulsory use of NZ Safety Standards approved equestrian helmets & high visibility clothing (minimum requirement - rider vest) when riding/driving or in charge of a horse on the road.
- Prohibit mobile phone use while riding/driving or in charge of a horse on the road
- Horse riders to maintain single file to allow a vehicle to pass, unless leading another horse
- Led horses to be kept on the left side of the lead horse
- Horses & riders/drivers/handlers to keep left wherever possible & travel the same direction as vehicles
For more information & media enquiries, please contact Simone Frewin"
The main feature of their campaign is that the organiser wants to coordinate large groups horse riders around the country to all set out for a road ride at the same time on the same day (May 20th) to raise awareness for their cause.
The Facebook page appears to be their only platform and they seem to be using it to discuss the issue and also to find people who want to organise a ride in their area and then help them work out the logistics (NZTA and NZ Police permission, ride routes, getting participation etc). Seperate 'Events' are then created for the individual rides around the country, allowing followers to join their local ride for more detailed information.
 |
| These are the rides they have organised as of Wednesday 19th of April |
Although I am pleased to see someone taking action for this issue in New Zealand, I do wonder how effective this campaign will be as it only approaches the idea with a very specific and exclusive method. I am doubtful if they will get enough rides organised across the whole country, with enough participation in each ride, to truly make a big impact. In my opinion, to begin making a difference, they would need to completely take over May 20th with horse riders everywhere riding out on the roads for the cause, creating national media attention - and I don't think they will get that. The page has been live for two weeks and they have just over a thousand followers, which leads me to believe they are not doing a very good job of promoting their page (considering I know this is a hot topic for horse riders in New Zealand and most would jump on a cause like this, and there is over 4000 members in just one of the Southland horse riding pages I am involved in alone so for a national scale this is a very poor turn out). Approaching the issue by protesting or raising awareness in this way (going for a ride on the road) will help draw attention to the fact that people do think this is an issue that needs to be addressed, but it's not really providing any actual answers/helping change anything. Their aim states that they want to educate drivers about appropriate behaviour, horses behaviour and rider signals but it's not clear how they are planning to achieve that.
I will continue to watch this campaign as it develops and culminates in rides across the country on May 20th to see what the response is to it.