Safe passing of horses helps win HGV driver of the year award

A logistics company included a horse in its challenge to assess how lorry drivers deal with vulnerable road users

- ELEANOR JONES

HGV drivers from across the country were judged on their safe passing of a horse and rider as part of a competition seen as a significant step towards improving equestrians’ road safety.

XPO Logistics, with Saint-Gobain UK and Ireland, held the driver of the year showdown on 28 September in Leicestershire, where 16 finalist drivers took part in challenges to determine the winner. This included a session on vulnerable road users in which drivers had to pass a walker, a cyclist, and horse and rider Ted and Sam Hilton Jones – one of Leicestershire Police’s mounted volunteer combinations. Drivers had to overtake, and pass in the opposite direction.

Regional quality, health, safety and environment manager Emma Barker, who organised the challenge, suggested the horse.

“As a rider and a safety professional, I am passionate about road safety and in particular safe driving around horses,” she told