Minister Gives Green Light for Children on Horses to Ride the O2NL Expressway
In a stunning move that has shocked road safety advocates, Transport Minister Chris Bishop has supported NZTA’s decision to exclude horse riders from the Shared Use Path (SUP) on the new Ōtaki to North of Levin Expressway – instead he confirmed that horse riders, including children, are legally allowed to ride on the expressway itself, and this, their only option available for north-south connection.
“This is not just absurd, it’s dangerous,” says the New Zealand Equestrian Advocacy Network (NZEAN), a national charity working to improve safety and access for horse riders. “The Minister has effectively told rural families that their safest and only option to travel in a north south direction on a horse is a four-lane highway.”
Since 2019, Kāpiti and Horowhenua equestrian advocacy groups have engaged in good faith with NZTA and the local council, advocating for safe, off-road access via the SUP – just as they have on other expressway corridors, including the Kāpiti SUP where shared use, including horse riders, works well. But after years of engagement, horse riders have been excluded on the basis of “cost” – despite asking not asking for special infrastructure and despite NZTA being unable to come up with requested information on the “cost” even under the Official Information Act.
NZEAN chair Shelly Warwick says “We’ve been strung along, gaslit, and now told to risk our lives. This is a safety issue. This is a discrimination issue. And this is a Minister refusing to answer the hard questions or to advocate for the whole rural community cut in half by this infrastructure.”
The group has written to the Minister of Police, Police Commissioner and local commanders to ask how they plan to police driver behaviour around horses on the Expressway – with no response to date.
Ms Warwick says according to the New Zealand Road Code, drivers must slow down, give plenty of room, and take extreme caution when passing horses, even stopping if a horse is frightened. “On an expressway, with speeds up to 100km/h, that’s not just unlikely – it’s impossible.”
She says NZTA’s own documents state the SUP was created to protect Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs). The World Health Organization clearly defines VRUs to include horse riders. “This is blatant, selective exclusion. We are vulnerable road users – unless, it seems, NZTA decides otherwise,” says Ms Warwick.
With public safety, community wellbeing, and legal consistency on the line, NZEAN is now calling on Ministers Bishop and Mitchell to publicly explain:
- Why horse riders are excluded from the SUP, despite being recognised by the World Health Organisation as Vulnerable Road Users.
- How Police will enforce safe motorist behaviour around horses on the expressway.
- What responsibility the Government will take when a person/child is injured – or worse.
“The Minister has made it clear: our children can ride horses next to 18-wheelers going 100km/h, but not on a safe, off-road path. That’s not just bad policy—it’s a national disgrace,” says Ms Warwick.
She says NZTA has recently been able to flip flop on decisions around the O2NL seemingly easily. So why can’t they change their mind on this.
“In an OIA to NZTA we have determined that there is no official legislated definition of a Shared Use Path or the user groups entitled to use one, but rather this decision sits with the Minister of Transport, Mr Bishop, who has the mandate to change this and ensure safety for our rural community Why does he not want to? And will he front the cameras when someone is killed?”
See Website: www.nzean.org
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