The BHS’ Director of Safety Alan Hiscox heads our award-winning ‘Dead Slow’ campaign and works alongside our dedicated Safety Team to make sure horses and their riders have a safe experience on our roads.
Alan has had a passion for equine safety ever since he was a mounted police officer, and saw the dangers horses and their riders face on the roads. He meets riders everyday who have had a bad experience on the road, tragically some of these incidents have led to a horse being killed.
For Trish, a rider in Hampshire, this was the stark reality. After she was involved in a road incident, which led to the loss of a horse she was extremely fond of, Trish reached out to the BHS via our Horse i app.
As soon as the incident was recorded, Alan contacted Trish to organise a time to meet. While we recognise that there is nothing we can do to bring her horse Jazzy back or to alleviate the pain she is feeling, it is important to us that we try to support Trish with getting her the help she needs.
A rider’s confidence can be severely affected when an incident like this occurs, so Alan and the Safety Team work with riders to make sure they feel comfortable and reassured. In this case, Alan spoke to Trish about the legal proceedings she may face and put her in contact with a road safety support charity as well as the local Police Rural Crime Team.
While making sure Trish received the right support, Alan also contacted Hampshire Highway to join them on the road where the incident occurred to place Dead Slow signs and posters. This is essential in order to help raise awareness of the dangers of passing horses too quickly and closely, making sure incidents like this don’t happen in this location again.
Alan has also worked with Trish several times on various media pieces to raise awareness of equine road safety and she has even contributed to a BHS training video. Getting Trish’s story out there to the wider public has made a huge difference, helping to really emphasise the real dangers of passing horses too closely or quickly.
Sharing these incidents with key contacts in Government and Road Safety Partnerships across the UK, Alan has been able to have regular conversations with key stakeholders too which makes a huge impact in raising awareness of equine road safety.