They Test Horse-Drawn Carriage Drivers, Don’t They?

After last week’s frightening horse carriage accident, the Daily News investigates just how easy it is to obtain a carriage driver’s license:

Getting a city license to guide a half-ton horse through the busy streets of midtown Manhattan is easier than getting a driver’s license.
All it takes is a $25 money order, two passport-size photos and the ability to pass a test about the health of a horse.

But the carriage driver never has to prove he can actually steer the horse — even though those skills can mean everything to the safety of New Yorkers.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the No. 1 cause of wrecks is inexperienced drivers, according to city records.

“Horses driving in the city almost have to be perfect,” said Larry Chapman, a member of the board of directors of the Carriage Operators of North America. “If they move a few inches to the left or right, they are in someone else’s lane,” he said. “You need more critical experience than driving a car, and instead you get less training.”

. . .

The city requires applicants provide ID and take a $25 course offered by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The course does not include time in a classroom or on the back of a carriage.

Instead, an applicant is handed a 46-page training manual and the same “Rules of the Road” booklet used for standard driver’s licenses. And though the manual contains safety tips on how to steer a carriage through traffic, the bulk of it deals with the health of the horse and tips on how to combat colic, fatigue and dental problems.

After studying the manual, the applicant must watch a training video and pass two tests, which the Department of Health offers four times a year. The first is a written exam, the second a “practical” test on administering first aid to the horse. There is no driving demonstration.

See also this Talk of the Town piece, which includes this bit:

The official operator’s manual has a section called “Dealing with Hostile People,” which asserts that “in New York City, it is common for strangers to approach drivers and begin loud and/or hostile criticism of the carriage horse industry.” Here was a subject any New Yorker could ace. “Smile and ignore them,” the answer goes.

(Just to be clear, I’ve thought these sort of things but never actually said them . . .)