Nowadays, most of us take for granted, the general safety and security of our automobiles that we utilize to get to the various places that we go to, day by day. That said, vehicles have only been around for about 100 years, and as tragic and as dangerous accidents can be for us with modern-day vehicles, it has to be admitted that on a per-mile basis, vehicles are actually pretty darn safe, especially when compared to the utilization of a horse carriage, back in the 1700s and 1800s. It has got to be remembered, that not only was the construction of a given carriage not necessarily the most robust, or even necessarily well engineered, but also that horses were susceptible to becoming frightened, and thus bolting and thereby becoming the proximate cause of an unfortunate carriage accident.
Those who rode in carriages recognized that there was risk to that travel, but preferred to travel in a way and manner in which they could not only be catered to but was in the scheme of things, far less tiring and more comfortable, as compared to riding a horse themselves. So too, people rode in carriages, because a carriage ride permitted them the opportunity to have a conversation, to attend to paperwork, or to dress appropriately for the event that they were traveling to, as well as to not have to personally take the responsibility of navigating the roads.
There are a multitude of reasons, why riders in a carriage, could end up being in an accident, having first of all to do with the integrity of the carriage, its wheels, the distribution of the weight of that carriage, as well as the condition of the roads, which could be far more dangerous depending upon weather conditions, steepness, narrowness, branches, or loose stones or gravel. Additionally, the person so driving the carriage, needed to be careful in their driving as well as the traveling speed of that carriage, because of obstacles, and just the general knowledge that turns so made in a carriage, needed to be done at a speed conducive to safety first. Additionally, carriage drivers had a responsibility to not only to check the integrity of the carriage periodically but also the condition and overall fatigue of the horse(s) so pulling that carriage. Also, a horse with less experience, or one more susceptible to being frightened by unexpected noises, could in a moment, take what was a safe ride, and make it far more dangerous.
Finally, there is the knowledge that those on the road with a carriage, would invariably come across other carriages, or other horse riders, or pedestrians, in which, somebody had to yield to the other entity, or else a collusion or having to maneuver off course could easily happen. The fact of the matter is, as much as we might today, think that riding in a carriage would be both pleasant and safe, it was far less pleasant and far less safe when this was a necessary means to get from one destination to another, because there was not only the possibility of human carriage driver error, but also the unpredictably of a frightened horse, as well as the carriage itself, may not have been all that secure or safe.