Levi Shetler is a member of the conservative Swartzentruber Amish. This group is known for a very low-tech lifestyle. Even other Amish comment on the austerity of their lives and aversion to technology. Last month, Shetler’s buggy was hit by a vehicle in his northeastern Ohio community, resulting in the death of a passenger. As it turns out, this is the 54-year-old Amishman’s 14th buggy accident….
You might read this post title and assume that an unfortunate Amish buggy driver was the victim in this accident. And I wouldn’t blame you. That’s usually the case. But in this instance the tables were turned, when a non-Amish woman was hit by a buggy seemingly “out of nowhere.” Victoria Ulrick was driving in Gladwin County, Michigan, home to two Amish settlements, when a passing buggy veered into…
In 2011 and 2012, a number of Kentucky Amishmen landed in jail for not carrying an SMV safety triangle on their buggies. This story got major news attention across the nation. State law was eventually altered to allow reflective tape instead of the triangle, thanks in part to 138 hand-written letters sent by an Amishman to Kentucky legislators. While the vast majority of Amish use the triangle, a…
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has put together a graphic showing the number of buggy crashes in Pennsylvania since 2003. The chart displays year-by-year accident totals as well as crash rates for a number of counties with a significant Amish population. Over the past decade, 2006 saw the most accidents, with 78. The fewest were recorded in 2003, with 56. The chart accounts for 665 crashes though…
Webster County, Missouri Amishman Emanuel Schwartz shares his road safety concerns with a news station in this video. Schwartz would like the Missouri DOT to create more buggy pull-offs on a dangerous stretch of highway. These are particularly important in hilly areas or on curves where visibility is poor. Amish take into account road traffic when founding a new community. However that is just one…
Is this the next road battle for the Amish? A local news station did an investigative piece on young Amish drivers in Indiana (the Swiss Amish settlements in Allen and Adams Counties). They discovered children aged 12, 11, and even 10 driving horse-drawn vehicles. If you’ve spent time in Amish communities, that shouldn’t come as a big shock. Amish children learn to drive horse-drawn vehicles…
Kentucky Amish SMV problems continue. If you missed it, on Saturday, a Graves County teenage buggy driver was cited for failure to display the SMV triangle after his buggy was hit and dragged into a ditch. Five children were in the carriage, ages 7 to 15 (Amish children operate horse-drawn vehicles from a young age). Luckily they were unhurt. It should also be noted…
After regretting (on the original buggy sign post) that we had no Allen County, Indiana sign, reader Torey has kindly shared this photo, taken near the town of Grabill. You may be aware that Amish in Allen County are considered “Swiss Amish”. Swiss Amish differ in a few ways from most other Amish (most Amish are considered to be of “Pennsylvania German” ethnicity). Swiss Amish…
The familiar yellow buggy warning sign tells drivers “Amish ahead”. But there is no standardized design. So the signs you see can vary. Below, twelve examples of Amish buggy warning signs you’ll find across America – and one from outside our borders. From Dauphin County, near Elizabethville, Pennsylvania. Dauphin County is home to a sizeable Lancaster Amish daughter settlement. Taken near the aptly-named Plainville, New…