However, the committee’s chairwoman says the committee is supportive and has passed the matter to local councils to consider.
Advocacy group Pass Wide and Slow New Zealand want horse riders formally recognised as vulnerable road users.
Spokeswoman Julia McLean spoke in public forums at regional transport committee meetings around the country last year, including at the Otago-Southland meeting in November, the only committee not to endorse the campaign.
Committee chairwoman and Otago regional councillor Kate Wilson said the committee had not been asked for a letter of support and had not met since November.
Ms McLean’s submission had been passed on to the Otago and Southland local councils for consideration, which all had representatives on the committee, she said.
"It was done in a supportive way," Cr Wilson said.
"There’s certainly nothing sinister in it, but we sent the message back through the TAs, who usually [manage] infrastructure and transport."
Ms McLean said until recently the only official statistics she could find on rider fatalities came from ACC, which recorded 17 deaths between 2007 and 2024.
"We knew there must be more, because of what we were hearing from the equestrian community. But the police and [NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi] don’t specifically record fatal [accidents] involving horses," she told Local Democracy Reporting.
Ms McLean asked Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora if it had any statistics on deaths involving horse riders on roads.
"Within five minutes I had a response with a complete breakdown of ages and gender for the period. Forty deaths in total ... it was very disturbing to read."
Inquiries to WorkSafe revealed three further deaths from 2020-24.
"So in total, 43 deaths that we know of, and we don’t yet have the Health NZ figures for the past four years. The total is not captured anywhere in one place."
McLean was hopeful her efforts would change rider outcomes.
New Zealand spent $4billion a year on rehabilitation after road trauma, much of it preventable, she said.
"Horse riders will be part
of that and if motorists would just slow down and give
them two metres’ space we could spare lives and suffering." — Additional reporting Ruby Shaw
■LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
