race horse killed at morphettville racecourse bray street crossing on wednesday

[Andrais]

hello everyone,
this is a very sad case of one of the horses were i do work expirience got hit by a taxi on wednesday morning. This horse got hit exactly were i cross every morning, taking horses back to the stable, if i wasn't doing something else at the time this could of been me. My rant is that people should slow down when driving around horses! I have seen many a time a person speed past with someone holding a horse and the horse going nuts and running out onto the road into traffic. Thankfully everyday its kind of a hit and miss situation but this accident has proved that one morning that the luck has run out. There is sinage everywhere iddicating that this is a horse training area and there are crossing posts up to tell drivers to slow down and be careful, just as they would driving in a school zone were kids and parents are crossing the street. This tragedy happened because one person was not paying attention to the signage or their driving, and because of this one young life has been lost. Some people might only think its a horse, but this horse had never been raced, had just finished his training and was about to start his career, and then someone comes along and hits him with a car and he has to be put down. Trainers think of their horses as their childern, and i suppose that that trainer is feeling great loss right now. Im sorry this post had to be really deep but i was there on the morning of the accident and i saw everything and heard everything so i feel really emotional on this subject right now. please drive carefully!
Andrea

 

[snakateur]

This is very sad, bloody taxis, my beloved bonnie decided to go exploring a year ago and ended up being hit by a taxi, eyewitness says he didnt even stop, probably too worried about his next fare.

People do need to slow down.

I feel for your loss Andrea.

 

[PhilK]

God damn that would have seriously messed up the taxi - is the driver OK? I've seen the damage a roo can do to a car, can't imagine what hitting a horse would do!

It certainly is a shame, and people would do well to remember to slow down around animals as they are very unpredictable - especially bloody horses! Also horse handlers should take note of the fact that drivers can be stupid and act accordingly - look both ways before crossing, listen for traffic, keep horses away from the road when cars are present etc.

 

[Serpentess]

God damn that would have seriously messed up the taxi - is the driver OK? I've seen the damage a roo can do to a car, can't imagine what hitting a horse would do!

I know of someone who recently hit a horse at 100km. The car was a Dodge Nitro and it was totally destroyed.
Lucky they got out with their lives. Poor horse though...

 

[LadyJ]

Wow... I'm so sorry to hear that. I totally agree with everything you said - as a horse rider I've been put in the exact situation you described.
My father and I were riding our horses when morning and were on a back road that not many people use... well, someone was on the road, saw us on our horses, and slowed down. That's not a problem, we'd ridden our horses around cars and of course, it doesn't usually phase them. However the person in the car decided (or accidently, no idea what they were doing) they were going to drive as close as possible to me on my horse, leaving a few inches between us. I think it goes without saying my horse spooked when it was touched by the passing car (who still had so much room on the other side) and did a cat-leap, could have crushed the car so easily... thankfully everyone was un-injured and I got my horse under control.
Sorry to hi-jack the topic - but just saying I know what you mean and I have many other stories of myself and others almost suffering a similar fate to what you described thanks to ignorant drivers.

 

[Dipcdame]

Just one more indication of how selfish people can be on the roads with no consideration of other road users.
LPlater, I agree, I am totally AGAINST the horseracing fraternity anyway, but under the circumstances, the callousness and thoughtlesness of the taxi driver is evident, it should never have happened anyway, no matter WHERE the horse was.

Aussiebluetongue, I hope you'll be ok, it's a horrific thing to witness, chin up.

 

[Kristy_07]

So sorry to hear you had to see something like that, Andrea. Very sad.

 

[H.bitorquatus]

was the taxi drivers taxi ok?

 

[Emily]

God damn that would have seriously messed up the taxi - is the driver OK? I've seen the damage a roo can do to a car, can't imagine what hitting a horse would do!
Stuff the driver! That poor horse. If anyone sees a horse on or near the road they should slow down. STupid taxi drivers

 

[Andrais]

God damn that would have seriously messed up the taxi - is the driver OK? I've seen the damage a roo can do to a car, can't imagine what hitting a horse would do!

It certainly is a shame, and people would do well to remember to slow down around animals as they are very unpredictable - especially bloody horses! Also horse handlers should take note of the fact that drivers can be stupid and act accordingly - look both ways before crossing, listen for traffic, keep horses away from the road when cars are present etc.

yes the driver was alright, so was the jockey riding the horse. I spoke to some people who knew the trainer today and they said that he had just bought the horse for 400 thousand dollars. :S so aswell as this being a terrible accident this man has also lost a great deal of money. I hope that i will never had to see anything like this again, its just horrific to watch any animal suffer and that its unfortunate that other people on this forum had to go through something similar too

 

[Kristy_07]

It's pretty certain the trainer would have had insurance, Andrea. It's good to know no one else was hurt.

 

[pythrulz]

thats a sad story always sad to loose an animal taxi drivers are the worse drivers on the road all they care about are there next fare

 

[giglamesh]

my mother hit a cow about 5 years ago on the dag hwy came out of some bushland onto the road. killed the cow. car was destroyed.

 

[sweetangel]

i too have had close encounters while riding. but its not the drivers fault really. to be honest there are not many people who actaully know how horses react. most drivers unless they are horsey people or live around areas with lots of horse have no idea how a horse acts. they dont know that they are flight animals that can get scared very easily. and most people dont really know how strong/ large they are when they get out of control. the worst is push bike riders as they dont care at all. but it is a very very sad situation. if only more people understood more about them especially if they are in an area where there is a horse crossing. other thing they could do is drop the speed limit of the area to that of a school zone or something.

 

[Dipcdame]

South Australia has the following guidelines regarding horses on the road:

What can motorists do to minimise risk?
Watch out for horses being led or driven on the road – leave as much space as possible to allow for unexpected movements by the horse.
Take extra care on bends, crests and on narrow roads, particularly in areas close to horse riding schools, trail ride businesses and on rural roads.
Slow down when passing a horse so your vehicle does not startle the horse, and allow plenty of room when overtaking.
Don’t use your car horn around horses – it will startle even the most placid horse.
Allow for inexperienced horse riders – especially young children.
Road Safety : Horses

I'm sure there's similr in other states too. However, as a taxi driver, the idiot had a responsibility, as a professional driver, to be mindful of these rules when in that area, or near ony horse on the road. What ever happened to COMMON SENSE on the road??

Penalties

A horse is considered to be a vehicle and therefore permitted to be ridden on the road, horse-riders are subject to the same penalties for road traffic offences as other drivers.

 

[PhilK]

yes the driver was alright, so was the jockey riding the horse. I spoke to some people who knew the trainer today and they said that he had just bought the horse for 400 thousand dollars. :S so aswell as this being a terrible accident this man has also lost a great deal of money. I hope that i will never had to see anything like this again, its just horrific to watch any animal suffer and that its unfortunate that other people on this forum had to go through something similar too

That's good that nobody else was hurt. Trainer would definitely have insurance on the horse if he bought it for that much.

 

[FAY]

That's good that nobody else was hurt. Trainer would definitely have insurance on the horse if he bought it for that much.

Wether the horse is insured or not really isn't the point, the fact is that an animal was hit and killed needlessly.
Anyone with half a brain that is driving and comes across horses or stock should slow right down as it doesn't need a Rhode Scholar to know that their behaviour can be unpredictable!!

If the owner/s of the horse feel the same as I do about my snakes...I feel very much for them right now.

 

[PhilK]

Wether the horse is insured or not really isn't the point, the fact is that an animal was hit and killed needlessly.
Anyone with half a brain that is driving and comes across horses or stock should slow right down as it doesn't need a Rhode Scholar to know that their behaviour can be unpredictable!!

If the owner/s of the horse feel the same as I do about my snakes...I feel very much for them right now.

Of course Fay I didn't mean to sound callous - it is of course tragic this happened and foolish of the motorist. But the original poster mentioned the trainer lost lots of money, so we're just saying that they were probably ensured.. and racehorses are generally more of a business than a pet so emotional involvement is not likely to be a huge issue here.

Anyway I am way off topic and missing the point by saying that - of course it's tragic and awful, especially in a well signed area like that - inexcusable really..