ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- PETA on Tuesday sent an urgent letter to St. Augustine Mayor Joseph L. Boles urging him to push for legislation that would prohibit horse-drawn carriages within the city.

PETA's letter came on the heels of a Dec. 15 incident in which an SUV hit a horse-drawn carriage, ejecting the passengers and causing another horse to bolt across four lanes of traffic.

PETA pointed out that the incident was the third involving a horse-drawn carriage in St. Augustine since June 2007. The organization said similar collisions have occurred in nearly every city in which horse-drawn carriages are still permitted to operate, and that the accidents cause serious injuries and fatalities to horses, motorists, carriage operators, and passengers.

According to PETA, a growing number of cities have realized that these antiquated contraptions have no place in city traffic: Biloxi, Miss.; Las Vegas and Reno, Nev.; Palm Beach, Panama City, Key West, Deerfield Beach, and Pompano Beach, Fla.; Santa Fe, N.M.; and Camden, N.J., as well as London, Paris, Beijing, and Toronto have all implemented bans.

"A horse-drawn carriage on city streets is an accident waiting to happen," said PETA Director Debbie Leahy. "This incident should be a wake-up call that the only way to ensure the safety of passengers, motorists, and horses is to ban horse-drawn carriages. We urge the mayor to act before the next accident."