Mother Killed – While 1-Year-Old Survives NY Amish Buggy Crash
The one-year-old baby was thrown from the buggy along with her mother. The baby survived with minor injuries…while her mother lost her life. From the New York State Police:
On October 28, 2024, at about 4:15 p.m., State Police in Herkimer responded to Butler Road in the town of Newport for a crash involving a motor vehicle and an Amish Buggy.
A preliminary investigation revealed that a 2017 Jeep Renegade operated by Andrew Bienkowski, age 36, from Newport, NY was traveling east on Butler Road in the town of Newport when it struck the rear portion of the Amish Buggy traveling in the same direction.
As a result of the collision, both occupants of the Amish buggy, Rebecca Swartzentruber, age 31, from Newport, and one-year old Mattie Swartzentruber were ejected.
Rebecca Swartzentruber was pronounced deceased at the scene. Mattie Swartzentruber was transported to Wynn Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The operator of the vehicle, Bienkowski was not injured in the crash.
The damage to the car looks horrific, which makes me shudder to think about what it hit:
This happened in New York’s Mohawk Valley, home to multiple Amish settlements. Herkimer County has two separate Amish communities. The settlement in question here looks to be a Swartzentruber Amish community.
Do the little ones have better chances?
I don’t mean to turn this tragedy into a speculative exercise. But something has been on my mind for some time now, as this is not the first time we’ve seen little ones ejected from a vehicle and surviving while others were killed, or having lesser injuries.
Sometimes the youngest ones come out relatively fine, while an adult or adults are killed. And it seems to me that is more often the case than the reverse – though that is only my impression. In other cases, the reverse is true, as in this buggy accident last year.
I considered the idea that a younger person might have a better chance of survival, due to their being less force involved on impact, due to their lower mass. I didn’t deep-dive this topic, but there is some suggestion of that being true.
In any case, one-year-old Mattie will now grow up without a mother. Amish people, and in particular those from groups like the Swartzentruber Amish, will say that it was God’s will. Others will wonder what might have been done to prevent it.
There are few details on the accident besides what is quoted above. We do know that this wasn’t a night-time accident, occurring about 90 minutes before sundown in that area. The NYSP say that an investigation into the accident is ongoing.
Senseless
The gentleman had to have been speeding to have that much damage!
Black Oak
i AM SO SORR`Y TO HEAR ABOUT THE ACCIDENT. MAY G0D BE WITH YOU AND ALL SURVIVORS OF THIS TRAGEDY.
Texting?
How did he NOT see the buggy? And yes, he was speeding to do that much damage to his vehicle and the buggy is toothpicks. I hope he realizes he has killed a woman with his negligence. Too many people in a hurry, all wrapped up in themselves with little thought about anyone else. And being a horse/mule person,. I suppose the horse didn’t survive either.
Because no one will slow down
Sad . I see it all the time in the community where we live. People speed and don’t pay attention. Now this poor woman is dead and her baby has no mother
babys
My Mother use to say god watches over babys and drunks as in falling and not getting hurt.
Buggy accident
This has to stop. What’s wrong with the government not doing anything about it. Either band cars from these highways or horse and buggy or make a separate road and not share the road. The government can add new lane buggy only. How many more are going to lose their life. In calif they do make changes in roads so I don’t know why they are not doing it their. My deepest heart felt sympathy for all those buggy accidents. No more. Can’t share the roads with cars or visa versa. Has to STOP.
Child survival
I often think the parent sees that they are going to be in a wreck and uses their body as a human a shield. Think about it, if a year old baby was placed against a full grown adult it would be similar to an adult against a mattress. The survival rate would definitely be higher. Regardless people need to pay closer attention to the road in Amish country.
Not mutually contradictory
I don’t think there’s anything inherently contradictory about saying that something was God’s will in a particular case and taking legitimate (emphasis) precautions against it happening again. The death and the putting-of-precautions-in-place are separate entities, and God is a person, not an abstract force. That is, there is no contradiction in believing that He both willed that someone’s time should have come via an accident, and also wills that something should be done by people in future about the danger that caused the accident.
There’s a rule somewhere in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 22:8) about putting a rail around the roof of your house, so that no-one falls off and dies, bringing the guilt of innocent blood upon it. If it is permissible theologically to derive a moral principle from that, it suggests that we are supposed to put reasonable effort into being careful with earthly life. The Christian tradition does lay emphasis on sins of omission (not only those of commission).
The place where “God’s will” is genuinely set against doing something about a risk is where it’s a question of taking a risk or doing something inherently wrong. So if the man on the roof with the helicopter could have shot his neighbour dead to steal a boat, and refuses, saying, “No, I won’t murder, if I drown it’s God’s will,” that’s correct (unlike not getting into a rescue boat when invited). It is not God’s will people should commit murder, and the consequences of not doing an evil act are not our concern: they are rightly left in God’s hands. Of course, different Christians will make different judgements in conscience about what it is and isn’t legitimate to do if life is in danger, and we don’t always get it right. But it’s only possible to get it right if you’re also free to get it wrong.
There’s also a need to be a bit careful about the fact that the phrase “God’s will” can mean several overlapping but actually not that similar things. All evil things happen with God’s permission, as He is sovereign and could prevent them; He sees these things from an eternal perspective which we do not yet have a full understanding of. (I think the Christian theodicy is the Cross: that is, we trust God’s good intentions towards us despite the truly awful because He put Himself right in the middle of it).
On the other hand, if a Christian was talking of God’s will in the context of choosing a particular action, then they would mean His positive will – “Does He actually desire this in His Creation?” – not His permissive will, which would only cover whether or not it was possible on that occasion, not whether it was right.
Moreover, perspectives and combinations in real situations complicate this such that both can apply. It is reasonable to assume that God had no desire whatever that people should arrest, try unjustly, and crucify an innocent man; yet, it was His will that it being the case that they would, that the Lord should suffer it.
And then this whole thing is further complicated by the fact that God is not subject to created time, and therefore where we predicate tenses of Him (as above) it is somewhat analogical.
How far different Amish groups or theologians would agree or disagree with my theology, I honestly have no idea: it would be interesting to know. But it does seem to me that a lot of discussion on this question misses the possible complexities in what someone COULD mean.
Anyway, prayers for the family.
ok heres my take on the video part of this when my bosses parents are on the road at night i follow behind em with my flashers on they do have lights but i still follow behind em as to the accident picture of the car yes they were speeding and shouldve been issued tickets for that
Ejected is NEVER a good thing
I did traffic safety field research for almost 30 years before returning to school to obtain my Master’s in Social Work. This news article has a lot to dissect, so please bear with me as I cover the issues mentioned here.
1. As a social worker, my heart goes out to all involved, including the families, the EMS and the police that we on scene. I respect the Amish way of life; as challenging as it is.
2. As a crash researcher, it is NEVER, EVER a good thing to be ejected. A body flying through a vehicle and out into the environment has NO control over where it lands, how it lands, or what it hits as it moves through time and space. People who are ejected and be run over by other vehicles, struck by flying debris, or land wrong and sustain fatal injuries. There is not one accident reconstructionist I know who doesn’t wear their seatbelt for this exact reason
3. Modern vehicles have crumple zones that are designed to absorb energy by doing just that. In the case of this truck, from looking at the damage, the driver applied the brakes, the Jeep front end dipped down, and under rode the buggy. This resulted in most of the damage being above the bumper, and peeled the hood back too.
4. Buggies have a wooden passenger compartment. They don’t crumple when hit, they disintegrate upon impact. This results in the people inside being subjected to the forces working against them. I don’t know how to protect passengers in conveyances that are made of wood.
I’m sorry for my lengthy post, but I hope that some of your comments have been addressed. I don’t know what the answer is. My greatest fear in Amish country is that im going to reach a hillcrest, start to decend it, and have a buggy suddenly materialize in front of me.
Amish Mother Killed in Buggy Crash
Has there been any law enforcement information regarding the cause of the accident involving the death of a 31 year old Amish woman on October 30, 2024. One year old child survived.. we have not seen any information in this area regarding the cause of the accident in regards to the driver of the vehicle. Was he charged with any fault?