Bill would toughen rules for Amish buggies
A new proposed Ohio law, backed by state lawmakers representing areas of the state with significant Amish populations, would toughen visibility requirements on buggies and other horse-drawn vehicles in an effort to reduce crashes.
Current state law requires horse-drawn vehicles to display either reflective tape or a “slow-moving vehicle” emblem, as well as a light that must be turned on at dusk or at night.
The new bill, introduced Wednesday in the Ohio House of Representatives, would require horse-drawn vehicles to display a specific type of higher-visibility tape, as well as a flashing yellow light on the highest rear part of the vehicle any time they’re being used on a public road, day or night.
The bill’s sponsors, Republican Reps. Scott Wiggam, of Wooster, and Darrell Kick, of Loudonville, say the tougher standards will save lives by reducing the number of crashes between automobiles and horse-drawn vehicles. There are on average 120 crashes involving horsedrawn vehicles in Ohio each year, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation.
In an interview, Wiggam said making buggies more visible on the roads has been one of the top requests he’s heard from constituents — both Amish and non-Amish — since he joined the state legislature in 2017.
He said the new proposed standards incorporate input from the State Highway Patrol while still giving consideration to respecting the traditional Amish way of life and their rights to religious freedom.
“I’m convinced from the research, I’ve looked at the crash data and what flashing lights do, that this will save Amish lives,” he said.
Ohio has an estimated Amish population of 76,195 — second in the country only to
Pennsylvania, and about onefifth of the country’s total Amish population, according to the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College. Counties with significant Amish communities include Holmes, Wayne, Geauga, Ashland, Medina and Tuscarawas counties.
Wiggam said he’s gotten input from Amish people while developing his bill. He’s lined up testimony from a member of an Amish community that has been using flashing lights on their buggies — and turn signals, which won’t be required under the proposed bill — for the past few years, since breaking off from a more traditional sect.
That person will say their community hasn’t had any crashes, while the community they left has had five or six, he said.
Wiggam said feedback from Amish leaders generally has been good, but he said he’s continuing to have conversations with the Swartzentruber Amish, a more conservative subgroup that’s more resistant to modern changes than other Amish communities.
“We’re all driving on and using public roads,” he said. “We use these together. There’s already other laws that they’re following on these public roads. There will have to be a discussion if they want to take on lighting, but for the sake of the public roads we all use and pay into and need safety on, this is a pretty important matter.”