From the Associated Press: MIDDLEFIELD, Ohio — Authorities say a motorcycle has struck an Amish buggy in Ohio, killing the man driving the motorcycle and injuring all four people in the horse-drawn vehicle. A State Highway Patrol release says 26-year-old Brandon Lee, of Middlefield, died at the scene of the crash that occurred around 5 p.m. Tuesday in Geauga County’s Parkman Township. Troopers say the…
Have a look at this buggy wreck photo…can you believe the driver escaped “shaken, but not injured”? The accident happened on Prince Edward Island, first settled by Amish in 2016. From the Canadian Press: A horse-drawn buggy was destroyed Wednesday morning after colliding with a truck on a rural road in the New Perth area, near where many Amish families have bought farms in the last…
Two adults and five children were ejected from their buggy when it was rear-ended in Ashland County, Ohio on Sunday. Three of the passengers, the father and two of the children, have serious injuries and were lifeflighted elsewhere, while the mother and remaining children were taken for local treatment. The children range from toddler age to seven years old. Cleveland’s News 5 reports on the…
There have been more than 630 buggy/vehicle accidents in Pennsylvania over the past decade. Based on that number, you can estimate roughly 3000 accidents across the entire 350,000-plus Amish/horse-and-buggy Mennonite population in that time. The Lancaster General Health system has created a list of tips for drivers to try to bring these numbers down. This came in part from firsthand immersion in the Lancaster Plain…
The past several weeks have seen quite a few buggy accidents in the news. The most headline-grabbing was the story of the Missouri woman who hit a buggy for the second time in a year. The first incident last September resulted in the death of a pregnant Amish woman. In the latest, the 83-year-old resident of Licking, MO, hit a buggy containing four youth, saying…
An Amish teen in the New Wilmington, PA community has been charged with a DUI after registering a 0.47 blood alcohol level. His buggy got into a fender-bender with an SUV, leading to the charges. According to the report in New Castle News, the young man in question “faces one count each of driving under the influence, purchase of alcohol by a minor, a stop…
What do racing horses have to do with Plain buggies? And why do some feel safer in a buggy than a car? Reporter Corey Kilgannon recently visited Plain communities in New York to learn about buggy safety from the local Mennonite and Amish populations. The result is a pair of articles in the New York Times. In “Quaint Buggies, With a Deadly Side“, Kilgannon explores…
An awful story from yesterday morning: EVERGREEN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Michigan State Police say three children were killed and six other people were critically injured when a pickup truck crashed into a buggy Sunday morning. It happened at 8:34 a.m. on Condensary Road at Wood Road in Evergreen Township, southeast of Sheridan. Police say the truck was eastbound on Condensary Road when it hit…
Do you recall the recent story of the Amish man who had survived 14 buggy crashes? Levi Shetler is a member of the Swartzentruber Amish group, which does not use the orange safety triangle and other otherwise-common safety features. It looks like change is coming to the group’s approach to vehicle safety – at least in Shetler’s corner of Ohio. Amish in the man’s community have…
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….