Blowing past someone riding a horse down a country road — and doing so rowdily while behind the wheel of a pickup truck — is not only not cool, veteran equestrians note.
It could also be against the law.
Kakabeka Falls riding instructor and horse breeder Teri Treftlin says she’s seizing the occasion of Britain’s annual road safety week, which runs until Sunday, to remind motorists on this side of the Atlantic how Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act applies when it comes to horses.
“As riders, we face a lot of people who don’t understand the rules of the road,” Treftlin said on Thursday.
“We have to abide by (the act), too, but we have the right of way.”
Fall is one of the best times of year to be out riding, Treftlin said, because the is air cool “and there are no bugs.”
Unfortunately, she said, some bad actors in vehicles spoil the experience by blasting their horns, or revving their engines, when tooling past a horse.
Meanwhile on Thursday, provincial police kicked off their annual Festive RIDE program, which aims to crack down on impaired drivers on provincial roadways during the holiday season.
According to OPP statistics highlighted in a news release, one in three fatal crashes on provincial roads involve impaired driving, while a 2022 road-side survey “found that one in five drivers tested positive for drugs, alcohol, or both.”
Ontario’s proposed Safer Roads and Communities Act would impose permanent driver’s licence suspensions upon motorists who have been convicted of impaired driving causing death, the OPP noted.
Police added: “The percentage of drivers killed (on provincial roads) while under the influence of cannabis more than doubled between 2012 and 2020.”
In 2018, it became legal in Canada for adults 19 and older to possess up 30 grams of cannabis.
