A HORSE lover’s campaign to raise awareness of drivers passing a rider on horseback has smashed her £5,000 target with the ad campaign set to appear on the sides of buses nationwide.
Debbie Smith from Penzance, Cornwall has been an avid horse rider all her life, and set up the fundraiser last month in hopes of raising £5,000.
The 52-year-old launched the campaign after becoming increasingly worried about the number of drivers who were not aware of the legal requirements when passing horses.
The law dictates that all drivers should stick to a speed limit of ten miles per hour and pass at a minimum distance of two metres.
However, florist Debbie felt that the message was not being spread enough, so set up a group called Pass Wide and Slow in 2016, which has quickly gathered over 40,000 members.
The group have smashed the five grand target, already raising £5,041 with over a month left on the fundraiser.
This will allow Debbie to have 30 buses promoting Pass Wide and Slow throughout the United Kingdom with the branding being placed on the vehicles by the start of September.
It will coincide with the annual group awareness ride where hundreds of riders gather together to enjoy a hack and chat about their mutual love of all things equine.
Debbie posted to Crowdfunder, writing: “We have until the end of May to raise £4,980, this will enable us to have 30 buses in six different areas promoting Pass Wide & Slow on the lower rear of the bus.
“This will advertise the two metre distance and 10mph speed.
“This will be out from the 4th September to the 1st October in the following six regions – Scotland, North East, Northern Ireland, East Midlands, Wales and South West.
“A decision is still yet to be made as to which actual areas within those regions will be covered, we will keep you updated when it has been decided.
“This is in hope to share this message with the non horsey community on keeping everyone safe on the roads.”
The fundraiser has received donations from more than 367 people with many leaving comments of support for Debbie’s targets.
Diana Priestland said: “Putting the message out on buses is a great idea, we all get stuck behind a bus sometimes – what an excellent way to spread the word.”
Debbie Drakeford said: “Thank you for what you are doing to try and make roads a safer place for all of us.”
Tracey Harrison said: “Hopefully we can make road users more aware to pass wide and slow when passing vulnerable road users.”
Elaine Wray said: “Keep up the fantastic work, you all do a great job.”
Speaking today, Debbie said: “People have said to me about raising awareness and raising money to advertise and a lot of the group said yes let’s do it.
“I started the group about six or seven years ago to support riders and have previously had a petition that got to Parliament.
“The group has just grown and we keep on going, people sadly get killed in incidents involving drivers and horses – 44 people have died in the last 13 years.
“It is not all arrogance [from drivers] but some people just don’t understand what we’ve had to deal with in the past.
“We won’t give in and we have just as much of a right to be on the road as anyone else.
“The bus idea just seems to be a good way to advertise and let people read and be educated on the law.
“Drivers can panic a bit, it is not something they have experienced before and sometimes they’ll just be worried and speed off.
“We have arranged for the advertisements to coincide with the awareness rides at the start of September.
“Every year we meet up and encourage riders to enjoy their hacks and riding their horses.
“If the advertising campaign works then we could do it again as long as people are willing to donate and I just want to say thank you so much to all of the people who have donated.”
In 2022 there were over 3,552 incidents involving motorists and horse riders with 68 horses sadly losing their lives and a further 125 injured.
