Horse rider calls for headcams to film bad drivers in Berkshire

The van Thatcher was driving forced a car to stop while he was overtaking two horses in Barkham, Wokingham

A Wokingham woman is calling for more horse riders to wear helmet cameras after police successfully prosecuted a van driver who forced his way past her on a country lane.

Footage from Linda Harrison's camera led to a careless driving conviction last month for Ian Thatcher of McCarthy Way in Finchampstead.

The 39-year-old was fined £383 and given six points on his licence.

Mrs Harrison said she had often seen dangerous driving while on horseback.

"They creep up beside you, they go by the side of you," she said.

"My horse I was on had been in an accident a few years ago where he was actually cut by a wing mirror."

Sudden stop

On 16 November last year, Thatcher tried to overtake Mrs Harrison and another horse rider as the pair approached a roundabout on Barkham Street.

He was driving a Vauxhall Vivaro van, and caused a Ford car coming the other way to make a sudden stop, as he was on the wrong side of the road.

Thatcher tried to force his way past the horses to overtake them at the junction, leaving only an arm's length between the van and one of the horses.

He was holding his mobile phone in his hand during this manoeuvre.

PC Laura Wright, rural crime officer for Wokingham, said there had been a "number of incidents" on rural roads in the past few years where horses had been involved or injured.

Nick Lloyd of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said figures showed there were about 100 horse-riding casualties every year, ranging from physical contact with a car to the horse being "spooked" by a driver passing too close and throwing the rider.

However, he said he did not think most drivers would alter their behaviour because riders had a helmet camera.