Newmarket's Rosie Margarson launches online petition to make roads safer for horses and riders

Newmarket trainer’s daughter Rosie Margarson has collected more than 13,500 signatures on a petition in her fight to try and end the dangers currently faced by horse riders on the road.

The petition she posted online to make driving safely around horses a mandatory part of the driving test has attracted 13,854 signatures, having been launched just two weeks ago.

Twenty-six-year-old Rosie, who usually rides out for her father, trainer George Margarson, but is currently injured having broken her ankle in a fall, spoke at Tuesday’s annual town meeting at Newmarket’s memorial hall.

She said she had started the petition in a bid to make changes to the driving test so drivers would have to know how to act when they came across a horse on the road, with it being ridden or loose.

She told the meeting that negotiating the roads on a horse in Newmarket was dangerous.

“It’s been ongoing but it really picked up when lockdown eased,” she said.

“The last month or so has been exceptionally bad.

“Drivers seem to be putting their foot down to try and beat you at the crossings. Just waiting is going to take only seconds of their lives but they risk it anyway.”

To view the petition, click here.

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