spate of accidents involving horse-drawn carriages and dangerous drivers to a halt.

The Transport Ministry's road safety officer Mrs. Laura Smith disclosed this yesterday after the most recent accident involving two horse-drawn carriages and a car driven by a woman believed to be intoxicated.

The accident, which occurred on Middle Road, Devonshire, during the early hours of yesterday morning, landed one of the carriage drivers in King Edward VII Memorial Hospital with neck and hip injuries.

The 42-year-old Devonshire woman was last night listed in stable condition on a general ward after hours of surgery.

All three vehicles were travelling in the same direction when the car collided with the rear of one of the carriages.

The collision threw the Devonshire woman out of her carriage and sent her horse galloping toward home.

"Luckily, the accident occurred after midnight so there was very little traffic on the road. Otherwise, more people could have been seriously hurt,'' the victim's daughter, who was riding in a carriage in front of her mother and "escaped without a scratch'', wrote in a letter to the Editor.

"I am also going to take this opportunity to warn people who drive any kind of vehicle on the road to be cautious around horses and watch where they are going,'' she added.

"Hitting another car isn't the same as hitting a horse and carriage.'' Police yesterday confirmed the woman who was driving the car was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and was expected to appear in Magistrates' Court in due course.

Police said they were also continuing investigations into the incident, the fourth accident involving a horse-drawn carriage in just over a week.

Through the $20,000 campaign -- scheduled to begin in the summer -- Mrs. Smith said the Transport Ministry hoped to "send a message to the public'' about driving while impaired and encourage people to use patience when driving around horses.

She said motorists should avoid several things when driving around horses, including; Honking horns; Following the animals too closely, particularly when in large vehicles; and Overtaking too close to the animals.

"Horses have limited vision so often times they do not see a vehicle until it is right next to them,'' Mrs. Smith said. "This can cause an animal to react.'' This, she added, coupled with the fact that carriage horses are fitted with blinders preventing them from looking back can be even more of a danger to road traffic safety.

Road Safety Council president Mr. George Morton said his group was working on developing closer ties with the road traffic officers in connection with such incidents.

He also advised people to be more courteous when driving.

"People definitely need to be more responsible and we at the Council cannot stress this enough,'' he said.