Operation Snap is a quick and easy way to report road incidents to the police, but more horse riders need to make use of it. Aimi Clark finds out why the data this generates is so important when it comes to educating drivers and making roads safer
HAVE YOU HEARD of Operation Snap? This nationwide initiative is police forces’ response to the ever-increasing submissions of video evidence from members of the public relating to incidents on the road, including those involving horse riders. Yet few equestrians seem to know about Operation Snap — and even fewer use it.
When Your Horse asked its #Hack1000Miles challengers whether they have ever used Operation Snap to report an incident while riding on the roads, well over half said that they had never heard of it. Just 16% said that they are aware of Operation Snap, while only 15% have used it to report an incident (see box, page 10).
“A high number of people haven’t heard of it, which I find quite sad,” says Debbie Smith, who runs the Pass Wide and Slow Facebook group and who organises road safety awareness rides around the country. “If we don’t report dangerous drivers, we will never be important to the government and therefore nothing will be done to keep riders safe. Please use Operation Snap. The police need stats.”
Statistics linked to road incidents involving horse riders don’t make easy reading. There were 3,383 road incidents involving horses reported to the British Horse Society (BHS) in 2023, and out of these three people and 66 horses died and 94 people and 86 horses were injured. This is despite the changes to the Highway Code coming into force in January 2022, with updated guidelines stating that other road users should pass a horse rider or carriage driver leaving at least 2m between their vehicle and the horse in question, and that they should go no faster than 10mph past an equine. In fact, last year’s BHS figures show that 85% of incidents occurred because a vehicle passed the horse too quickly or too closely.
Additionally, 23% of riders fell victim to road rage or abuse from motorists (see News, page 6).
“Too many drivers underestimate the importance of driving carefully around horses,” says BHS director of safety Alan Hiscox. “This is detrimental to the safety of equestrians. You only have to look at the two horses who were tragically killed in the space of just two weeks at the beginning of 2023. Our fear is that guidelines aren’t being clearly explained and delivered; this needs to change. Urgent action is required to make every road user aware of the Highway Code changes and, critically, why it’s so important to pass horses with care. Only through working collaboratively to educate and drive awareness will we be able
