Moment BMW screeches past horse and 11-year-old rider in terrifying near-miss on a country lane
This is the terrifying moment an 11-year-old girl was almost flung from her horse as a driver sped past and spooked the animal.
Dashcam footage shows the horse starting to spin at the sound of screeching tyres on a narrow country lane in Wanborough, Wiltshire.
Suddenly a silver BMW hurtles into view, sending dust flying from the grass verge as it speeds down the wrong side of the lane.
It narrowly avoids hitting Izzy Wykeham-Martin riding her eight-year-old gelding Sully, accompanied by her sister Niamh on foot.Niamh's partner Matthew Lane, 23, was following the pair behind in his car.
Several cars are seen slowing down to pass them respectfully, when suddenly the sound of screeching tyres can be heard in the background.
Sully is spooked at the sound and starts to panic before the silver BMW flies past, narrowly missing the horse and two girls.
The terrified horse tries to bolt with Izzy clinging on, but Niamh managed to keep hold and calms him down.
Izzy Wykeham-Martin, 11, was riding her horse Sully down a country lane in Wanborough, Wiltshire when the animal suddenly became spooked by the sound of a BMW screeching past at speed
The driver appears to almost lose control riding up a verge to avoid the pair.
Matthew, a construction worker, drove on to stop the other driver after Sully had calmed down.
'I looked back and all I could see was the silver BMW hurtling towards me with smoke billowing from the tyres,' Matthew told the Swindon Advertiser.
'The other driver didn't seem to be bothered by what happened. The driver must have been travelling at least 80 miles per hour.
Daschcam footage shows the BMW fly past a pair of riders before coming to a stop up ahead
'Izzy is now very nervous about hacking but was happy with how Sully behaved during the incident.'
Niamh said: 'It was a nerve wracking situation, it didn’t really hit me how scary it was until everything had calmed down.
'Sully heard the squealing before he saw anything and all of a sudden this car comes past him really fast, his first instinct was to get away, run.
'Both my sister and I were very shaken up, she had to get off the horse and go in the car as she wasn’t able to get back on. She has anxiety and this wasn’t very good for her, it took her at least an hour to calm down.'
Matthew added that more needed to be done to protect not just horseriders, but pedestrians and cyclists that also use country roads.
'I was behind the horse, about eight cars in a row had gone past it sensibly, then there was this tyre squealing and all I could see was smoke. It looked like an F1 car was behind me,' he said.
The Highway Code tells motorists to 'always pass wide and slowly' when encountering horses, as many can be unpredictable and tend to have children as riders.
Footage of the incident, which happened on September 22, was recently posted online.
Wiltshire Police launched an investigation into the incident.
In a statement the force said: 'We are aware of the incident which occurred on Wanborough Road at approximately 6pm (22/09) after it was reported to us later the same day.
'We are investigating the incident and will keep those involved updated as the investigation progresses.
'We’d like to take this opportunity to remind people that country roads and lanes have a high proportion of slow-moving traffic, including animals.
Several cars are seen slowing down to pass Izzy and Niamh respectfully, when suddenly the sound of screeching tyres can be heard in the background
'We all need to share the highways and have respect for each other. This means thinking about those who might be more vulnerable than you and altering your speed accordingly.'
According to the British Horse Society, more than 1,000 road incidents involving horses were reported in the year to February.
Some 130 people were injured, 46 horses died and a further 118 were injured.
Around 43 per cent of the incidents occurred because the vehicle driver went past too quickly.
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