Box Truck Hits Buggy – After Buggy Fails To Yield; Three Amish Children Injured (Wisconsin)
When it comes to buggy accidents, we tend to focus on the more egregious incidents, when bad drivers clearly are at fault.
But it goes without saying that motor vehicle drivers aren’t always to blame.
Operators of horse-drawn vehicles bear their own responsibility on the road. And sometimes they are the reason for an accident happening.
That appears to be the case in this incident yesterday in Columbia County, Wisconsin: a buggy failed to yield, and was hit by a truck.
Three Amish children were hospitalized. Fortunately, it sounds like their injuries are not especially serious.From FOX 11 News:
SPRINGVALE (WLUK) — Three children were hospitalized after a crash between an Amish buggy and a box truck in southern Wisconsin.
After 8:15 a.m. Wednesday, authorities responded to the scene of a collision at County Highway SS and Vaughn Road in the town of Scott.
The driver of the box truck called 911 to report the crash and said three children inside the buggy were injured.
First responders provided medical aid to the children, then transported them to UW Children’s Hospital. According to the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, all three children are expected to be okay.
The buggy “did not yield the right-of-way, pulling out in front of the truck.” To be honest, I hadn’t really heard the term “box truck” used much.
I guess it’s not that hard to guess, but here’s what a box truck is according to Wikipedia:
A box truck—also known as a box van, cube van, bob truck or cube truck—is a chassis cab truck with an enclosed cuboid-shaped cargo area.
This incident happened in the sizeable Kingston Amish community, which occupies parts of three Wisconsin counties. Over 2,500 Amish live in this area.
It’s not 100% clear if the three children were the only occupants, but it seems likely that is the case (in these reports there is usually mention of all involved in accidents).
The horse was not hurt. This all suggests that the truck had to be traveling at a relatively low speed on impact.
These children learned an important lesson that will stay with them, and thankfully without anyone losing their life.
The ages of the children are not given. Considering this happened sometime after 8 AM Wednesday morning, in all likelihood these were three school-age children on their way to the local Amish schoolhouse.
If that’s correct, it would mean that the oldest was at most 13 or 14 years old. In many Amish communities, it’s not unusual to have children even a few years younger than that driving buggies.
WOOPS
I agree with the statement that both parties can be at fault. I also think that both parties need to be aware of each other. Just be patient on the roads and remember when you’re rushing to get somewhere in life we will be just a name on this earth quicker than anyone of us can imagine. Think of others it goes along way! What comes around goes around!