Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to issue (a) further guidance or (b) an awareness campaign to drivers on how to safely share the road with horse riders.

This Government is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads and my Department works with a broad range of stakeholders, including the British Horse Society, to help us achieve our aim.

In 2022, The Highway Code was updated to improve the safety of all road users, particularly the most vulnerable. Key changes included the introduction of a Hierarchy of Road Users, which ensures that those who do the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger or threat that they pose to others, along with the strengthening of guidance on safe passing distances and speeds when overtaking horse-riders.

THINK!, the Government's flagship road safety campaign, plays an important role in raising awareness of, and encouraging compliance with, new road safety legislation. This includes the recent changes to The Highway Code. THINK!, ran campaigns to alert road users of the changes as they came into effect, and broader behaviour campaigns to encourage understanding and uptake of the guidance. Results from the last campaign showed that by September 2023, 93% of drivers agreed it was their responsibility to give space to vulnerable road users. We will continue to promote The Highway Code changes on THINK! and DfT social media channels and via our partner organisations.

Local authorities are responsible for road safety on the local road network. Section 39 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 puts a 'statutory duty' on local authorities to provide a safe local road network. This includes road construction, accident investigation and analysis, traffic calming and setting speed limits.