Distracted Driver Hits Buggy; Injures 7 Amish, Some Seriously (Virginia)
Another distracted driver has caused a serious buggy crash, this time in Richmond County, Virginia. It happened yesterday afternoon (September 28).
A total of seven people in the buggy were injured. Two of them sound like they’re in bad shape. From WTVR:
RICHMOND COUNTY, Va. — Two people were medflighted after a car crashed into a horse-drawn buggy carrying seven people at an intersection in rural Richmond County on Sunday afternoon, according to authorities.
Troopers responded to the crash at the intersection of Route 3 and Calvary Church Road just before 3:45 p.m., Sgt. Jessica B. Shehan with Virginia State Police said. That is not far from the historic Calvary United Methodist Church in Warsaw.
Shehan said a 38-year-old Lancaster County woman driving a Nissan sedan hit an Amish buggy traveling along Route 3.
That’s Lancaster County in Virginia, not PA of course. The buggy was pretty full:
The buggy, driven by a 44-year-old man from Warsaw, had seven people on board at the time of the crash.
Two passengers from the buggy suffered serious injuries and were medflighted to a nearby hospital, troopers said.
The other people on board were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
According to troopers, the driver was said to be “distracted at the time of the crash,” but with “no signs of impairment.” No word on what caused the distraction.
Richmond County is part of the Northern Neck peninsula of Virginia – one of three peninsulas or “necks” as you can see on the map below. The Northern Neck is home to a community of around 250 Amish, which was founded in 2019, as well as horse-and-buggy Mennonites.
Distracted driving strikes again
Distracted driving has been implicated in other serious crashes involving the Amish. Those include a driver on his cellphone in an Indiana crash in July which claimed one Amish man’s life.
Or this Michigan driver who killed an Amish horse while sending an email on his phone.
Or even – and this one I suppose is more excusable – a deputy who struck an Amish buggy in New York while looking down to check the data terminal in his vehicle.
Best wishes to the injured ones for a full recovery.
Distracted Virginia Driver and . . .
Bet it had something to do with either a cell phone or the car’s radio. (shaking my head) When are people going to learn?? While operating a motor vehicle, no matter what, it can WAIT! Not worth getting into a crash, for Heaven’s sake. Hugs & prayers to all involved. Erik, have a good rest of your day.