Six Ejected In Rear-End Crash — In Pennsylvania County Where Buggy Ban Failed

Emergency responders and a Chestnut Ridge Ambulance Association vehicle at the scene of a horse and buggy crash in Bedford County, Pennsylvania — Responders on the scene of a buggy crash in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. Image: WJAC

Six people were ejected from a horse-drawn buggy in Bedford County, Pennsylvania on Sunday evening when a car struck it from behind. This is in the same Pennsylvania county where a proposed steel wheel buggy ban failed just days earlier.

The crash happened in the early evening on August 9 along William Penn Road, near the intersection with Younts Road, in East St. Clair Township. This would be in the neighboring township to Bedford Township, where the ordinance had been proposed.

According to the report at WTAJ, blinding sun was a factor here:

According to Pennsylvania State Police, a 79-year-old was driving a Hyundai Elantra south when she said the sun was in her eyes and crashed into the back of the buggy.

This forced the buggy to hit a guardrail and tip over, throwing all six people from inside.

Some of the occupants were flown to a hospital while others were taken via ambulance, including the driver of the Elantra.

WJAC reports that all six buggy occupants were hospitalized. Multiple area emergency medical services crews responded. An investigation is ongoing.

The Same County That Just Fought Over Buggies

This is the fifth story we’ve followed out of Bedford County since July. The previous four were about buggies, but from the perspective of perceived harm they do to township roads.

That ordinance would have prohibited metal-wheeled vehicles on township roads, and required owners of horses and other large animals to clean up or contain waste on public roadways. The ordinance was scrapped after vigorous opposition from local residents.

As mentioned above, the proposed ordinance was a Bedford Township measure, while this crash occurred in East St. Clair Township, which borders Bedford Township to the northwest, as you can see in the map below.

Bedford County, PA townships map showing Bedford Township bordering East St. Clair Township, where the crash occurred.

Amish or Old Order Mennonite?

None of the reporting I’ve seen identifies the buggy occupants as Amish or Old Order Mennonite. It’s relevant because Bedford County has both – and the Old Order Mennonite population is significantly larger than the county’s Amish population.

An example of an Old Order Mennonite buggy in another part of the state (Lancaster County)

The Amish settlement at the center of the ordinance dispute numbers roughly 100 people. Last month reader Nicholas shared some detail on the county’s older and considerably larger Old Order Mennonite community:

Bedford County has had an Old Order Mennonite (Groffdale Conference) in the north end of the county since 1970.

As of 2022, when the Amish moved in, these Mennonites, which also use horses and buggies, had 223 families according to the directory of Amish and Mennonite settlements in North America.

The Mennonite community is at least as close as 15 miles (New Enterprise, where some of the Mennonites have addresses, is 11.6 miles from Bedford according to Wikipedia) to the town of Bedford.

Two hundred twenty-three families is likely over 1,000 people, so it’s reasonable to guesstimate that the Old Order Mennonite community is about 10 times larger than the Amish presence in the county. Given that size difference and the rough location it is also reasonable to think it more likely that this was a Mennonite buggy. This happened Sunday evening, so it may have been post-church service traffic.

As for the victims’ injuries, that has not been reported, only the fact they were hospitalized. Neither outlet reports the condition of the horse. Let’s hope all make it through alright. Hat-tip to reader Jerry for bringing this story to my attention.