Hawarden equestrians highlight Highway Code changes with ‘Pass Wide & Slow’ ride out

Horse riders and walkers have taken to the roads of Hawarden and Mancot to raise awareness of how to pass vulnerable road users safely.

Local equestrian Julie Jones is leading the event, dubbed Ride 25, which involves both horses and pedestrians. It’s part of the nationwide Pass Wide & Slow initiative.

On Sunday 17th September, they covered a roughly 2-mile route, encompassing the village outskirts of Hawarden and the main route through Mancot.

Julie and the riders were joined by Hawarden Community Council’s chairman, Councillor Janet Axworthy. Shotton’s PCSO Jacqueline Pleszak also supported the event by taking to the roads.

Julie (38) was motivated to organise the event after experiencing a series of near-misses and collisions with vehicles.

These incidents involved her and other equestrian friends at the stable where she houses her horse in Hawarden.

Julie is passionate about this issue, stating, “It’s not just the horse riders and other road users that I aim to make the roads safer for with this event. I’m also concerned about the safety of the motorists.”

She also wanted to underscore changes to the Highway Code made in January of the previous year.

These changes advise motorists to leave a gap of at least two metres when overtaking horse riders and pedestrians and to do so no faster than 10mph.

When overtaking cyclists, a distance of one-and-a-half metres is recommended.

“In this day and age, we should feel secure when using the roads with our horses,” Julie remarked.

“Regularly, we encounter speeding motorists passing too closely in both directions, overtaking on blind bends, or misunderstanding hand signals.”

“We’d prefer not to use the roads, but we often have no choice. We have no alternative place to ride our horses. Everyone should be able to use the roads and feel safe while doing so.”

This event aligns with the nationwide Pass Wide & Slow initiative, which occurs annually, even reaching as far as America.

Julie said, “If Ride 25 prompts even one or two motorists to reconsider how they pass vulnerable road users, I believe it’s a success.”