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Horse manure claim

When travelling through a nearby village near Cardiff Airport I came to a bend and there was horse manure in lumps and spread over the road where the cars had driven through it. After about another 200 yards the traffic was all stopped. There was a group of horses and riders on the road which we had to wait until they peeled off down another lane. If I had come off my bike through sliding in horse manure would I be able to claim against the horse owners for any damage to me / bike / kit?

James Pepper, Barry

 

Answer

In order to successfully bring a claim you would need to establish (i) that the horse rider responsible owed you a duty of care; (ii) that by failing to clean up the mess, the rider breached that duty; (iii) that breach caused you loss (i.e. injury, and/or damage to your vehicle); and (iv) that the loss caused was not too remote.

I think it is reasonably foreseeable that manure on a bend would cause a hazard to road users, particularly motorcyclists. However, I would expect the rider to contest any claim on the basis that you couldn’t prove whose horse was responsible and that this is a peril of countryside driving.

Unlike with dogs, there is no legal requirement for horse owners to clean up their animals’ mess. However, section 161 of the Highways Act 1980, makes it an offence to deposit anything whatsoever on a highway which injures/endangers other road users. You still face the problem of not being able to identify the rider responsible.

 

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