I have to admit when I saw the headline of this story (“Driverless Amish buggy crashes in Watertown”), the first thing that came to mind were driverless cars. Had Amish in some under-the-radar settlement stealthily adopted battery-powered self-driving buggies when no one was looking? Some Amish absorb change faster than others…but that would be quite a leap. But of course, that’s not what this was….
A van rollover accident claimed the lives of four Amish individuals, three of them young children, in central Iowa on Friday. The group of Amish (more than one family) were on the way to Missouri to visit relatives. From kmch.com: The Iowa State Patrol says three children and one adult were killed when the passenger van they were riding in lost control on Highway 20….
This video – of a vehicle rear-ending an Amish buggy – is worth checking out. Why? It’s the first I’ve ever seen of a buggy actually being hit. And it comes from an unexpected place – a sheriff deputy’s body camera as he was driving his vehicle. The incident took place in late October in Chautauqua County, New York, home to four distinct Amish settlements (going…
The two sponsors of the new Ohio horse-drawn transport lighting law, state representatives Scott Wiggam and Darrell Kick, recently addressed the new stipulation that all horse-drawn transport have flashing lights affixed to the top of the vehicle: “The bottom line is, we believe fully that this will save lives,” Wiggam said. “The speed differential is just too great.” Kick agreed. “The objective is to reduce…
An unusual buggy accident happened last week in Missouri, involving an Amish woman and boy (via KTVO): ADAIR COUNTY, Mo. — A northeast Missouri woman and boy were injured Sunday evening in a terrifying accident. It was reported around 8 p.m. on Apache Way, about six miles southeast of Greentop. First responders told KTVO an Amish horse and buggy carrying a 28-year-old woman from Greentop…
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine made the bill a law last week: COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine has signed a bill requiring Amish buggies and other animal-drawn vehicles to display a yellow flashing light while driving on public streets. House Bill 30, co-sponsored by Republican Reps. Darrell Kick of Loudonville, and Scott Wiggam, of Wooster, is intended to reduce the crashes between Amish buggies and…
Back in October we learned the sad news of two Amish parents in their late 30s being killed in a car-buggy crash in the Farmville, Virginia community. The buggy in which John and Barbie Esh were traveling with their eight children was struck from behind in the evening while on their way home from a friend’s place. One parent died on the scene and the…
This accident took place last night in the area of Junction City, Ohio (Perry County), where there is just a small Amish settlement of maybe a dozen households. In the Scioto Post report the accident site was described by firefighters as “250 feet worth of a debris field”. Here’s a look at part of that debris field: And the vehicle with severe damage: More: Fortunately,…
This sort of thing comes as near infuriating as it gets: Tabitha L. Foultz (formerly Evelhoch), 21, of Greencastle, was sentenced to serve 3 to 23 months in jail Tuesday for a homicide by vehicle charge stemming from a March 2021 Shippensburg horse-and-buggy crash that claimed the life of a 14-year-old Amish boy. On Tuesday, Foultz was also sentenced to serve between 72 hours and…
It seems hit-and-runs on Amish buggies are the latest bad roadway trend. Another happened in Oneida County, New York Tuesday (other recent ones have occurred in Ashland County, Ohio and Trumbull County, Ohio). This time the driver somehow made out okay, but the horse was left injured: Marcy, N.Y. — A horse was injured Tuesday after a car crashed into an Amish buggy and then…