Hannah: Must I die for you to slow down?
Aten-year-old girl has asked whether she needs to die before roads are made safer for horse riders.
Hannah Mudd has been given huge praise for her safety campaign by councillors after giving a heartfelt speech at Funtington and West Stoke Parish Council's last meeting.
The concerned youngster has also created campaign posters and flyers, with a slogan, 'We don't dent, we DIE', to raise awareness of the problem.
Hannah has been riding her pony around the lanes in the West Stoke and Funtington area for the past two years.
"There are lots of bends and the road is narrow. The traffic often won't wait for us to pull over and the cars squeeze past, going too fast, which frightens me and my pony," she told parish councillors at the meeting.
It has now got to the stage the traffic has increased so much within the past couple of years that riders in the area cannot use the roads without some kind of incident.
Hannah added: "When ponies are frightened they panic and spin round out into the road. Some drivers do slow down but lots get angry when we ask them to slow down, and shout and swear at us and then speed past even faster.
"Everyone says you won't do anything until someone has a tragic accident and is killed. This is just silly. Why should someone like me have to die before something can be done?"
As a result of her speech to the authority, West Sussex county councillor for Chichester West, Louise Goldsmith, is looking into what can be done to solve the problems.
Cllr Goldsmith said: "It takes a very brave person to start a campaign. I saw her at the meeting and I thought she was an extremely brave little girl.
"It is regrettably a problem throughout the county. Hannah needs a lot of support. She put her points across in such a good way. We want to help, we know this is a problem."
The solution to the problem lies in building permissive paths through private land so the horses can steer clear of the busy roads.
Hannah said: "I was nervous when I spoke to the parish council, but they said they would help me if I needed help. It was very pleasing."
Funtington district councillor Julie Tassell said: "We have got to do something. It is so dangerous riding on our roads.
"What we are going to have to do is acquire land from farmers and people so those riding can reach the bridleway.
"We are waiting for a serious accident to happen. We have got the full backing of Cllr Louise Goldsmith.
"We are basically a rat run through to Chichester. We have requested a pedestrian crossing for the elderly.
"There is a chance, in a year's time, we are likely to get one, which might slow people down."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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