This petition was submitted during the 2017-2019 parliament
Rejected petition Turn all Public Footpaths into Public Bridleways
Traffic on the roads is increasing every year, it is becoming increasingly dangerous to Horse Riders and Cyclist using the roads. There are 91,000 miles of footpaths that can not be accessed by Horse Riders and Cyclists, this is frustrating for all concerned: riders, cyclists and drivers.
More details
According to the 2019 British Horse Society Survey there are nearly two horses killed each week on UK roads.
It is difficult to find evidence for horse rider fatalities as they are not shown on the Department of transport reports, but they would come under the title "other", this title also does not give numbers for seriously injured and its worth noting a lot go unreported.
But for cyclist it is very clear, fatalities are around 100 every year, with approximately 3400 seriously injured.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s about something that the UK Government or Parliament is not directly responsible for.
Management of public rights of way such as public footpaths is the responsibility of local highways authorities, usually local councils, and/or landowners.
You can find out more about local authorities' responsibilities in relation to public rights of way here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/public-rights-of-way-local-authority-responsibilities
You could raise the issue with local councillors who represent you. You can find out who your local councillors are, and how to contact them, here:
https://www.gov.uk/find-your-local-councillors
You could start a new petition calling for an action that is the responsibility of the Government or Parliament, for example calling for government funding for bridleways.
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.