Video: fleeing horses cause panic on motorway in Brittany
Three horses gallop wrong way down road for over a kilometre before being stopped
The dramatic scenes were filmed by drivers on the A84
2019 zjtmath/Shutterstock/o_rooster_o/TikTok
Three horses in Brittany have luckily escaped harm after galloping down a motorway into oncoming traffic.
Surprised motorists captured the scene on the A84 near Liffré.
The horses had fled from their enclosure in Betton (Ille-et-Vilaine) and travelled 14km before ending up on the motorway.
They then ran over a kilometre along the motorway towards oncoming traffic before a truck driver blocked their path and they could be captured.
Traffic jams were recorded following the incident last week (April 30) but the horses escaped unharmed and were returned to their owners, police officers have confirmed.
Horses bolted due to fear
Social media videos show the horses at full-speed into oncoming traffic, on both the hard shoulder and motorway lanes.
“Horses react instinctively, not consciously. When a horse does not understand what is happening, its mind simply thinks, 'I'm going to die.',” said Lina Milliasson, training manager at the Montéclin pony club, to FranceInfo.
“When it finds itself on the highway with cars everywhere, its instinct is to flee.”
Several instances of horses running into traffic have been recorded in France, sometimes leading to serious accidents.
Earlier this year, a horse was killed after being hit by a driver in nearby Finistère. It is one of three animal fatalities this year from horse-vehicle collisions.
In Dordogne, a 43-year old man died after hitting a stray horse with his car in March. The passenger in the car was also seriously injured in the collision, and the horse was killed.
Under French law, owners are liable for damage caused by stray horses and allowing animals to roam can lead to fines of up to €750.
