driving without due care

[dennilson]

I was recently involved in a road accident where I have swerved to avoid a horse which reared out of control. I have collided with another vehicle causing minor damage and no injury. Cheshire Police have now sent me a letter stating that I can attend a driving course costing �178 or get a prosecution for driving without due care. I have not been interviewed or given any documentation or summonses. It seems very unusual, what should I do. I wasn't even cautioned by the police at the time. I have tried to obtain a copy of the accident report through their data protection and they want �60. Has anyone ever heard of this, dont know what to do

[Ethel]

There is always a charge for the accident report - usually the insurance companies pay it.

If you believe you were driving without due care, then pay the money and do the course.

If you believe you weren't, plead not guilty and go to court.

[cheries]

Sorry, I have to ask this, and I know it won't help, but was the horse ok?

[rosojoly]

Take the couse , you were driving without due care you should have stayed far enough back to allow the road to clear then overtake giving the horse a wide berth , also hope the horse is O.K.

[Annlinda]

lesson learned...if a horse rears up out of control let it hurt itself on you car dont swerve and hit another car .....then claim off the horse rider for damage to your car.
Funny old world isnt it?

[dennilson]

Thanks for those answers, have to agree though, this is the 21st century, what are we doing allowing large uncontrollable animals on highways where they are likely to get hurt, or even worse hurt other road users. Its typical that once again we seem to get our priorities wrong. I have decided to take out a civil action against the person who was in charge of the horse. Its hard to blame animals for the ignorance of the owners taking them onto a scary busy highway. Personally I have always been nervous and careful about overtaking horses on busy roads. They are unpredictable and are prone to reacting to different vehicles and situations differently from other road users.

[dennilson]

As an addition to the above, in regards to the Cheshire Police I received a typical response, never informed that I was being reported at the time, no contempraneous interview to give my version of events, and a reluctance to release the contents of the accident report for perusal of my legal advisors. What a country we live in, still if it would have been a burglar I dare say they would have received a reprimand for the first offence, or indeed two final warnings ha.

[cheries]

I do agree with you dennilson, horse owners can sometimes be very irresponsible. It is a legal requirement now for horse owners to take out public liability insurance (if they are compete at shows,) so there's a chance that you may get some luck with that. I have owned and competed horses for 25 years, and not once have I had an incident like this happen to me. Granted I am lucky because of where I live I rarely use roads to excercise my horses. Some people don't have a choice about where they ride and have to run the risk of hacking on major roads.
However, I have to agree with rosojoly, how close to the horse were you that it caught your car? You really should have been giving the horse more room. I am not criticising you (particularly if the horse was out of control - then this is an issue with the rider taking a dangerous horse out) but I have had drivers beep their horns at me whilst I am riding!!! It was only the good nature of my horse which meant that there wasn't a serious incident as a result of this gross stupidity. And for the record, horses have just as much right to be on the road as you do. You just have to drive with a little more caution around them.

[Macca9]

Cheries...

Do horses or their owners pay road tax?