The Modern Day Untouchables…

The York Tethered Horse Issue continues to bubble:

A woman whose vehicle was hit by a stray horse at 70mph on the A64 near York has spoken of her shock that the problem has still not been tackled.

Unfortunate phrasing, as a commenter is quick to point out:

Buzz Light-year says...

“A woman whose vehicle was hit by a stray horse at 70mph on the A64 near York..”

Wow! That's a fast horse. Shame it got killed it could've won the national, the oaks, the gold cup and the olympic 100 metres!

SNORK!

But the problem is serious, and is proving difficult to resolve…

Sharon said the accident happened in February 2009, but she was speaking out now to support calls for the authorities to stop horses being tethered illegally on roadside verges in the York area.

Sharon said she could not believe that three years after her accident, the problem was still not being tackled, and she backed calls by York Outer MP Julian Sturdy for City of York Council to use its powers to confiscate such horses.

And will they do so? Well, there’s fast, prompt action to resolve a H&S nightmare, and then there’s the glacial response of a council desperately trying not to get involved in any kind of confrontation with a Protected Identity Group:

City of York Council has said it is looking into what appropriate course of action it can take, both in the short and long term, to develop a solution to the problem of tethered horses.

Yes, a few focus groups, consultation periods and scoping exercises are clearly called for. And if you’re lucky, no-one’ll die in the meantime….

The commenters aren’t so reticent:

Paula_T says... Travellers and their horses seem to be untouchable , end of

They do, don’t they?

Pete the Brickie says... It's really quite simple, I know a couple of farmers in the locality of the A166, they are often called upon to capture the escaped horses by the authorities and public. I reported a horse being lead down the A64 on my way out one night, the police faiiled to intervene and I was unfortunate to to come across the same animal on my way home unattended in the middle of the A1237, the police again failed to attend so I captured it and tied it securely away from the road. The following week the animal was loose again on Malton road when I helped to secure it again. Bad luck maybe but true, I don't care who owns them, I just wish they'd secure them properly as I was very lucky not to hit the one on the A1237. I'd also freely admit to an interest as it puzzles me how the police can justify blasting two to bits with hunting rifles on road safety grounds that were in a field then do nothing when one is actually in the middle of a main road or fail to stop people tying them three yards from one.

It puzzles me too. Did we ever find out who those horses in that infamous incident belonged to? I don’t recall we did…

Jimbo of York says... Well, we all thought the Lib-Dums were bad, however this bunch are worse. Instead of spending loads of our money on hair brained schemes like the 20mph speed limit, why not actually clamp down on these illegal horses tethered to the road side, seeing as the legislation already exists. All we need is a council with the same sized testicals as Ryedale who did take action, that's why they moved the problem to York. This useless council is going to wait until someone is actually killed before doing something.

Yes. It appears that’s exactly what it’s going to do.