2:32pm Tuesday 8th September 2009
By Natalie Stewart
HORSE riders in north Lancashire distracted by gadgets are being urged to take more care on the roads.
Police have received several complaints from motorists that riders out on hacks are getting distracted by the likes of MP3 players, iPods and mobile phones and putting themselves and their horses at risk.
Riders and the parents of younger riders are being asked to pay more attention to the road in a bid to avoid potential accidents.
Yvonne Pennington, owner of Green Bank Riding Centre at Warton, near Carnforth, said the centre did not encourage the use of such gadgets.
“Our riders might have a mobile phone in case of emergency but they don’t use it,” she said. “It wouldn’t be a very good idea.
“It would distract you from your riding and you need to be looking out for your horse.”
Kate Bell, a rider from Carnforth, said she ‘would never dream’ of letting her two young children Megan, ten, and Holly, seven, listen to music or use a mobile phone while riding.
“They can barely concent-rate without anything,” she said. “I suppose people use mobiles riding a bike but with a horse you can never say what it’s going to do, even if you think it’s the quietest horse in the world you just never know.
“I just don’t think it’s safe.”
PC Chris Ashworth, of Lancashire Constabulary Northern Division’s road policing unit, said using such technologies made it hard for riders to hear other vehicles.
He said: “Motorists should know to take extra care when driving past horses, but the situation is not helped when the riders themselves aren’t fully concentrating on the road.
“We would ask riders to make sure their mind – and eyes and ears – are on the road and that parents make sure their children are aware of these safety issues while out on their horses.”
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