'People are just zooming by': Island woman concerned for horse's safety when crossing Pownal Road

A P.E.I. woman is urging drivers to slow down on Pownal Road, fearing that she and her old horse may be hit while crossing.

Dianne Fullerton, who lives in the area, crosses the road in eastern P.E.I. twice a day with Mack, her 28-year-old horse. At his age, she said, he's moving a bit slower lately and she's worried for their safety.

"Everybody is just driving way too fast," she said.

"Hardly anybody drives the speed limit and it's a bit concerning for me, crossing the road, because he's a 1,000-pound animal and I can't get him to go faster if a car comes over that hill."

She crosses the Pownal Road once in the morning and again before dark near a slight hill in the road which, she said, could block the view of drivers speeding on the other side.

The speed limit in the area is 60km/h, but she alleges people drive faster than that.

"I'm looking up the road, up the hill, to see if anything's coming while we're on the road, every time I go across," she said. "If they were going the speed limit they would have time [to brake] but when they're going 100 kilometres an hour, it's not good."

Vehicles have right of way

Fullerton crosses the road from her property to the pasture where there is no crosswalk. The province said in places like this where there is no crosswalk that the right of way is for the vehicle.

"It is very dangerous for vehicles to randomly yield the right of way in unmarked locations," said Graham Miner, the director of highway safety with the province. "And this has been the cause of many serious collisions."

Fullerston said she's been crossing this "country road" with her horses for 20 years and that all drivers should be cautious "at all times."

"I'm simply asking drivers to use caution and slow down on this stretch of road in Pownal," she said in a Facebook message.

'I'm simply asking drivers to use caution'

Fullerton said she's heard similar complaints about speeding from other people who live in the area. As of Thursday, she hadn't called the RCMP about it — but she did take to Facebook to voice her complaint and to make others aware of the issue.

"I'm crossing in the morning and before dark and people are just zooming by," she said. "I'd just like people to go the speed limit."

RCMP Sgt. Leanne Butler said police have not received calls recently about speeding in that area to her knowledge.​​​

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