Support our Yuri Bear Project
Knitting needles are clicking across our villages and the wider community for the Yuri Bear projectđťâ¤ď¸.
Weâre aiming to knit 20,000 teddy bears for children displaced as a result of turmoil in their country.
Weâve been overwhelmed by the response so far, but 20,000 bears is no small ask!
If you can knit, know someone who can or would like to find out how you can help, please click on the link below.
Poll: Is it rude to talk on the phone on a bus?
Buses can be a relaxing way to get home if you have a seat and enough space. However, it can be off-putting when someone is taking a phone call next to you.
Do you think it's inconsiderate for people to have lengthy phone calls on a bus? Vote in the poll, and add your comments below.
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64.6% Yes
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32.8% No
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2.6% Other - I'll share below
Horse rider pleads for support to keep them safe on roads
A nationwide campaign to have horse-riders officially recognised as vulnerable road users has been offered supported by the West Coastâs Regional Transport committee.
The committee heard a presentation this month from equestrian safety advocate Julia McLean, who recently took a petition to Parliament on behalf of riding associations across the country.
The petition, signed by close to 9000 people, asks the government to recognise the vulnerability of horse riders in transport legislation.
âCurrently we sit in the âother road userâ category and that gives no benefits whatsoever and most critically we are not included in education or road safety-messaging,â McLean said.
Horse-riders were continually dealing with reckless and dangerous behaviour by motorists, she told the committee.
âWe get reports from our rider groups of horses being killed: there was one in Reefton, and another in Ruatoki; just two weeks ago a horse was hit and killed by a truck and the rider was taken to hospital."
Riders were also put at risk by aggressive drivers tooting their horns, winding down their windows and shouting, and passing at speed and too closely, she told the committee.
But unlike accidents involving pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users, such incidents involving horses were not captured in the statistics.
When she had asked NZTA for data, said said all it could tell her was that it had issued 13 infringements in 13 years, for failing to take care around a ridden animal or stock.
âWhen someone comes so close they touch your stirrup, or they hoot their horn as they go past ... itâs the abuse - itâs everywhere."
In a case down south, a truck driver refused to slow down despite hand signals and the rider fell off just in front of him, she said.
She had asked the road safety director for NZ Police to look at providing a âtick-boxâ for horse-riders in incident reports, Ms McLean said.
âItâs a small, low-cost measure that would allow us to have some proper data, an informed understanding of whatâs happening out there on the roads, and in turn some targeted road safety messaging.â
She was motivated to become a safety advocate by her own experience at the age of 25, when she fractured her skull in a near-fatal riding accident on a Kaiapoi road.
âI lost all memory of my childhood; my sense of taste and smell is gone forever. I was in a coma for week, I lost my career and itâs taken me 16 years to fully recover,â she told LDR.
Her accident had not been caused by a car: her horse had shied and thrown her when a piece of paper on the verge moved suddenly in the wind.
But the incident was a grim reminder of what could happen if a horse were startled, she said.
The UK and Australia had recently changed their road codes to give drivers explicit instructions on passing horses.
âIt needs to be explicit. We canât assume people just get it anymore. Common sense is not a thing. We actually have to tell people what we require, to pass a horse wide and slow - wide is two metres.â
A total of 37 organisations were now endorsing her campaign, including police, trucking companies, pony clubs and 10 other regional councils, McLean told the committee.
Transport Committee chairperson Peter Ewen was supportive of Ms McLeans safety campaign.
âIn rural New Zealand we have a lot of narrow roads, and we do have riders on them â I would like to think that courtesy is given to those riders."
Regional council chairperson Peter Haddock said he sympathised with the cause but had reservations about riders on state highways.
âI would encourage it on low volume council roads but would struggle to support riding on highways where youâve got traffic following closely behind.
âItâs difficult to find you suddenly have a horse in front of you and slowly pass it and go from 100kphs to 10kphs. Itâs a dangerous situation."
McLean said horse riders did not want to ride on highways, and accidents were happening on 50kph local roads.
She appealed to West Coast mayors and chairs present to consider horse riders when they built shared pathways like cycle trails.
âWe donât need a hard surface, just a bit of dirt or grass at the side.â
The Transport Committee agreed to draft a letter to the national transport authorities, endorsing McLeanâs safety campaign but stating its reservations about horses on highways.
What's your favourite recipe for gooseberry?
Love gooseberries? Share your favourite way to enjoy them. We're looking for our readers' favourite family recipes for this delicious crop. Send yours to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the magazine, you will receive a free copy of our December 2024 issue.