This Minnesota County Just Got A First-Of-Its-Kind Buggy Warning System

This sounds similar to what’s been under consideration in Virginia, but we see it’s already being put into action in Fillmore County, Minnesota – at least on one stretch of road. Here’s more from a news release from the Minnesota Department of Transportation:

CANTON, Minn. — The Minnesota Department of Transportation has installed new flashing driver alert signs to help increase motorist awareness that an Amish buggy is on the road on a stretch of Highway 44 between Mabel and Canton in Fillmore County, where the shoulder narrows with guard rail.

The system is expected to improve safety for the slow-moving buggies in an area of Minnesota that is home to the largest Amish community in Minnesota.

The horse-drawn buggies are typically driven on the shoulder to avoid conflicts with the vehicles. However, there is a stretch of Highway 44 that has narrow shoulders where guard rail is placed. It forces the buggies to travel on the road. The purpose of this safety system is to alert the motorist of the presence of a buggy at this location.

The Amish in Fillmore County have been victims of multiple bad buggy wrecks in recent years. The county is home to several different Amish settlements, including one of the most conservative groups, located in the area of Harmony and Canton.

How does it work?

The stretch of Highway 44 is east of its junction with Highway 52. One sign in each direction has a flashing beacon that is activated when a buggy is approximately 150 feet from the start of the guard rail.

The sign has an Amish buggy symbol with a flashing beacon mounted on top and a sign below that indicates the warning is in effect when flashing.

Here’s a diagram illustrating the above – showing the portion of the road where the guardrail forces buggies onto the highway to pass:

Interestingly, the report says nothing indicating that the buggy has to carry any special device to trigger the beacon.

That is how the system being considered in Virginia is supposed to work – EZ-Pass style. Obviously, a system that is able to identify a buggy and activate without additional technology needed is going to be more seamless and easier to deploy.

On its face that is superior to having to get buy-in from a state’s diverse Amish communities (some of which might be reluctant to accept the tech on their buggies), and it is superior to a system that relies on two points (on-buggy triggering device & sensor) rather than just one.

Such a system would work regardless of whether the buggy operator forgot to carry the triggering device, or simply does not want it on board.

After watching an MNDOT video on the system, it does seem that it is triggered by a sensor that is buried in the road. Perhaps in this case, the sensor has been placed on the shoulder so as to only be triggered by buggies traveling on the shoulder. It’s not explained, but based on what I see in the video, and looking at the map diagram they’ve provided, I could see it working that way.

This is the first such system for buggy warning installed in Minnesota. Let’s hope this proves to be an effective way to get people’s eyes on the road and watching out for their Amish neighbors. It’s quite possible this is not replicable on all roads (if the sensor needs to be buried in a shoulder to be triggered by buggies alone, it wouldn’t work on roads without a shoulder).

But assuming this system does not require any on-board triggering device, maybe the people working on this in Virginia, and other places, ought to consider something like this instead of, or in addition to what they are doing.

Get the Amish in your inbox

Join 15,000 email subscribers. No spam. 100% free

 

 

 

Subscribe