Image by Flickr user pocketwileyImage by 20081227-horse.jpg

PETA wants legislation to ban horse-drawn carriages from Fountain Inn. This month there were two car collisions with carriages during the Upstate town's Spirit of Christmas Past festival.

PETA also says road conditions are too harsh for the horses.

In both incidents, the drivers of the car were ticketed for driving too fast for conditions, in one case the driver was ticketed for an open container of beer.

Those carriages were operated by Charleston-based Classic Carriage Company, and they don't give the claims much credit, saying the accidents were because of reckless drivers and that the animals are trained to deal with the conditions.

The Greenville News has some excellent information on the crashes and PETA's protest, while Live 5 news has some reaction from a director at the Classic Carriage Company.

Personally, I don't have too much of a problem with horse carriages, particularly in Charleston. But I think you can make a case against using them at Fountain Inn as they're used infrequently and local drivers don't think to look for the slower moving traffic.

Chances are if you've lived in Charleston even a short while, that you're familiar with the back and forth between carriage operators and those wanting to protect horses.

This summer there was much back-and-forth over where Charleston keeps the thermometer that signals when it's too hot for horses too work -- at 98 degrees the city mandates that carriage companies let the horses rest.