Amish Buggy Hit by Car on New York Highway — 77-Year-Old Amish Man Critical, Horse Killed

A 77-year-old Amish man from Palatine, New York remains in critical condition tonight after a car struck his buggy on a state highway in Montgomery County Thursday evening.

The accident impact happened on a curve, while the buggy was towing a piece of farm equipment (more on that below). From CBS 6 Albany:

Sheriff Jeffery T. Smith said the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office 911 Dispatch Center received multiple 911 calls at about 5:19 p.m. Thursday, July 9, reporting a crash between a motor vehicle and an Amish buggy crash, with serious physical injury.

Montgomery County sheriff’s deputies and the agency’s EMS Division responded along with the Canajoharie Fire Department. Deputies found a 77-year-old man later identified as John D. Kurtz Sr. of Palatine with serious injuries.

Kurtz was treated at the scene by the Sheriff’s Office EMS Division before being transported to Albany Medical Center. The vehicle driver is a 78-year-old resident of Palatine. Both the motor vehicle driver and 16-year-old said to have “minor injuries” were treated at the scene and released.

Palatine sits in the middle of the Mohawk Valley Amish community, and Montgomery County itself has three distinct Amish settlements, this one being the largest at over 1,000 Amish residents.

Buggy Was Towing A Hay Loader; Horse Killed

The buggy was towing a hay loader at the time of the crash. According to the report, the driver

was traveling southbound on State Highway 10 when she entered a curve near Groff Road and her vehicle, a red 2016 Subaru Outback, struck the side of an Amish buggy that was towing a hay loader.

The sheriff’s office said the Subaru then struck the horse pulling the buggy and hay loader before coming to rest.

Sadly, the horse suffered severe injuries and was “humanely euthanized” on the scene.

A hay loader is a horse-drawn implement that collects loose hay off the ground into a wagon behind it. It’s an old-fashioned type of equipment you still see in traditional Amish farming operations when “making hay”. So this was likely a farmer moving equipment on a state highway on an early summer evening.

The investigation is ongoing, and the sheriff’s office is asking for public assistance in the form of witnesses to the two vehicles involved:

The sheriff’s office is asking anyone who traveled through the area shortly before the crash and may have observed either the Subaru Outback or the Amish buggy to contact Investigator Cody Fabian at (518) 853-5527 or cfabian@sheriff.montgomery.ny.gov.

Let’s hope this man makes a full and swift recovery.