Wearing Hi Viz

High Visibility Clothing

• Hi visibility clothing will always help you and your horse to be seen by other road users, giving them more time to react or slow down.
• Studies show that hi viz can give a vehicle an extra 3 seconds reaction time, which means that at 30mph that’s an extra stopping distance of 40m, the size of a full length Dressage arena. For a driver, this could be the difference between hitting you and your horse or passing safely.
• Hi viz isn’t just for road use. For those who ride in rural areas, particularly where there are hot air balloons, helicopters and low flying planes, hi viz will enable people to see you from the air and allow greater time for pilots to take evasive action.
• Should you have a fall, wearing hi viz will enable help, such as the air ambulance, to find you much faster.
• The grey/silver stripes on hi viz garments work by reflecting light directly back towards the source. So if your hi viz clothing has stripes, car lights will reflect off you making you more visible.
• When wearing hi viz highlight those areas most likely to be in the direct line of the sight of vehicle drivers, ie car bonnet to car roof height. The Highway Code recommends that your horse wears reflective bands above the fetlock joint and you wear a light which shows white to the front and red to the rear, fitted to your arm or leg/riding boot, to show the direction of travel.

• If you have to ride in foggy conditions where visibility is greatly reduced, in addition to hi viz you should also ensure you wear a leg/arm light.
• Hi viz clothing is cheap and easy to buy, a tabard can cost as little as £1!
• Ideally, hi viz clothing should meet the standards EN1150 for non-professional leisure riders, EN471 for professional riders and those working with horses, and EN13356 for accessories.

The British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA) BETA have launched the BETA high visibility garment certification scheme following the re-classification of high visibility garments under EU legislation to category II Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Only garments that are certified to one of the relevant standards applicable to visibility clothing will be allowed into the BETA scheme. Each of the standards covered by the scheme will be represented by a different coloured label, similar to the well-known BETA Body protector standard.

To read more about the standards, click here.

Why not download our Be Seen Be Safe document and place it in your stable to remind everyone how important hi viz can be for you and your horse's safety?

Be Seen Be Safe
Estimated Size: 185 KB

Insurance

• Check your insurance policy to ensure you have sufficient cover for any incidents occurring on the road.
• It is strongly recommended you have liability insurance as it is important to ensure you do all you can to protect yourself against the cost of possible compensation and legal fees in situations where you are considered legally responsible, for example if anyone is injured or killed as a result of an incident involving you and your horse.
• Don’t forget about veterinary fee cover. Should you be involved in an incident and your horse is injured, it will help give reassurance that you can afford the best treatment possible without delay.
• Finally, you may wish to include personal accident cover to provide financial help in the event you are injured.

If you are involved in an incident

You should not accept responsibility or offer to pay for damage as a result of an incident.

Record details of the incident including

• Where it occurred
• Vehicle details including registration number and description of the vehicle
• The driving or behaviour of the other party you deemed dangerous or reckless.
• Time of the incident and any witnesses
• Be prepared to provide your details and contact numbers.

Depending on the severity of the incident, you may wish to call the police and ambulance service to attend. Please be aware of your legal obligations under the law, in NI, you must report any incident where injury occurs. (Click here for more information. For other areas in the UK, click here for further information)

You should notify your insurance company as soon as possible following any incident which may give rise to a claim.

If you have fallen off, it may not be safe for you to remount and help should be sought to get you home. Also if you have had a fall, you should consider replacing your hat as damage is not always visible.

• If you want to report road hazards such as broken glass or road repairs, then please contact your local authority.
• The British Horse Society encourages people to report incidents as without statistics they cannot ask for laws to be changed. Click here to report an incident