It has recently come to my attention that it is legal for people to ride horses with a cart on a dual carriageway. Today, I saw a man (without a helmet) in a tiny cart aggressively whipping a horse in 28•c heat on the A127.Here are the main reasons why you should sign this petition to make it illegal:

It is incredibly dangerous for the rider, the horse and other traffic. 

Riding horses on tarmac is very strenuous on their joints and can cause long term damage. Furthermore, on a dual carriageway a horse has to be in canter/ gallop for a long period of time adding to this harm. Plus, it is easy for horses to lose their grip and fall. Most likely leading to serious injury to the rider, horse and other traffic. 

 An argument that might be used to protest this petition is the element of history behind horse riding. However, there are plenty of bridleways across the country that are a safe place to do this, so by choosing to do this on a dual carriageway is irresponsible. The maximum speed a horse can travel is 50 mph (which is not sustainable), so to compete with the 70 mph speed limit is unsafe.

Furthermore, there is strict safety testing on all vehicles before they can legally be used on a dual carriageway, since a horse would not pass the same testing, logic would suggest it is not safe for a horse and cart to be on this type of road. No matter how well-natured or trained the horse is, it can still be spooked or unpredictable stressing the danger of this activity once again.

Overall, I believe this treatment of an animal should be classed as abuse and thus illegal. In continuation, I feel it is the government’s responsibility to review horse cart riding on dual carriageways due to the advancement of vehicles and roads.