# Horrific Accident at Devon County Show



## sue_nf (23 May 2014)

Copied this from the Hampshire Animal Rescue Team.  So sad for the person who died and hoping the trapped horses are rescued quickly


https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=660100414045264&id=109906362398008


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## AdorableAlice (23 May 2014)

Horrific, either the handbrake failed or was not put on I would think.


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## MurphysMinder (23 May 2014)

According to the BBC website the man was thought to have serious injuries but they turned out not to be, hope this is the case.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-27538140


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## jhoward (23 May 2014)

horses /people are friends of mine, all shaken but all ok, the pics on fb of the horse box.. they were so lucky it got the side of the box and didn't go into the back of it.


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## sue_nf (23 May 2014)

Thanks for the update jhoward, thrilled to read that although shaken, both humans and horses are ok.


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## Welly (23 May 2014)

Just been on local TV Devon County Show cancelled Saturday maybe this was the finale straw?


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## exmoorponyprincess1 (24 May 2014)

We were there although thankfully had just left before the accident - it happened next to my friends trailers and they were on scene to help with the people/horses trapped.   Initial thoughts were that the driver of the van which ploughed into so many parked vehicles (actually moving a cattle transporter type lorry with heavy horses on it amongst others) had taken a seizure but now hearing it was potentially a drunk driving incident.  Absolutely sickening.  The whole day from start to finish was a disaster in terms of parking/traffic flow, what a horrible shame it ended the way it did though.


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## MiJodsR2BlinkinTite (24 May 2014)

Yes I saw the earlier report on Facebook saying someone had died.

Apparently there was a number of facts wrong with that report, among them that someone had died. They haven't. A pedestrian was apparently "seriously injured" and taken to hospital.

All horses OK I understand.

The parking at Westpoint for ANY event let alone Devon County Show has always been a total cack-up; I've been there for events other than the county show and the problem is that they just allowed the showground to build up into what it is now, but have given total FA thought to where everyone's going to park. If like me you've always lived in the area you know that the showground is situated in a naturally mushy place in the landscape.

Looks like the organisers have been caught with their pants down a bit on this one. OK so mebbe being uncharitable here but for pity's sake everyone knows what the Westcountry can be like in the spring when it rains!!! I would have thought that local bus companies/coach firms could have easily organised a park-n-ride service - then at least the organisers would have had SOME visitors today rather than none. Surely that wouldn't have been too hard to do at the last minute? It doesn't look like they've thought about what to do if the car parks are all muddied up; there were reports on Radio Devon about people coming down from Tiverton on the N Devon link road where it joins the M5, and having to go at snails pace all that way - one mini-bus apparently took THREE HOURS to get there along the M5 and then when they did get to the showground they weren't allowed in and were turned away. 

Now on the radio this morning, the show organiser, when questioned, seemed a tad charey, to my mind at least, about the thorny issue of "compensation" to stallholders/members of the public who'd booked advance tickets........ there wasn't exactly any assurances of compensation for everyone. Not sure that exactly inspires confidence from either exhibitors or public alike??? But perhaps my suspicious mind is working overtime.

But don't know what they can do TBH other than to spend £££ and put down grass-peep-through concrete grilling - or do what NEC in Birmingham have done and concrete-over everything. Think Devon Co Show is a victim of its own "success" - too many people want to get to it and they've simply not got enough room for everyone to park on a normal day let alone a wet one.


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## exmoorponyprincess1 (24 May 2014)

Totally agree - if they don't want a rerun of this fiasco, something needs to be done to make the parking facilities a lot more weatherproof.  We came from Bristol area and knew to expect a bit of a queue coming off the m5 going on our previous years of experience...but it took us longer to get from the m5 junction to the showfield (a journey of what, 5 mins maybe in "normal" traffic?) than it had taken to get from Bristol to Exeter with a trailer on!!  

I know of a number of people who have sworn not to compete there again after yesterday - on top of the parking issues (we ended up on a cordoned off part of the road having to unload and walk our ponies - one a moorbred Exmoor youngster! - through the lanes and lanes of traffic trying to get into the show!) the warm up area for the ridden classes was a field of clay by 11am yesterday...I didn't dare do more than a short trot on each rein before actually going into my class as the ground was so deep and sticky I was really worried about my mare pulling a tendon or something if I had actually worked her in properly.   Stuck to an inside track in the ring too so as to avoid the clay path which was going around the outside edges - just awful.


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