I’m not loving sharing all these bad happenings on the roads with you. But after posting the sad case of a drunk driver who killed a young Amish father in Wisconsin last week, I surely can’t overlook this latest story.

An 18-year-old Amish male was charged for “recklessly operating a buggy while drunk.” I don’t think that’s the exact name for the criminal charge, but that’s how the article describes it. Here’s what happened, via WKBW:

Authorities say Adam Byler of Panama went through a stop sign at the corner of Goshen Road and Rock Hill Road in the town of Harmony at a high rate of speed, resulting in the buggy to tip over, early Sunday morning.

The crash resulted in people being ejected onto the road, including a person under the age of 17, which injured the horse.

Byler was taken into custody and was released on an appearance ticket.

He is expected to appear in Town of Harmony Court at a later date to answer to the following charges

    • driving/torturing an animal
    • reckless endangerment 2nd degree (4 counts)
    • endangering the welfare of a child

I assume the “driving/torturing an animal” charge results from whatever happened to the horse in this incident. The “endangering the welfare of a child” likely refers to the person under age 17 who was also in the buggy, probably a younger friend or sibling.

Two weeks ago on the 3 Biggest Buggy Dangers post, Pat Monti wrote:

Accidents aren’t always the fault of the English. In our area, (central Illinois) we and many others we know have had near misses; and they haven’t been as a result of our poor driving.

That is worth remembering. Car-buggy accidents may more often be caused by motor vehicle drivers, but it is certainly a two-way street. Adam Byler is fortunate the consequences here were not more serious. Drunk driving is entirely preventable.

This happened in Chautauqua County, New York. Byler is just a few years younger than Elmer Stoltzfus, the 22-year-old-father who was killed last week.

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