How many have died in car accidents over that period of time?

after all....religious freedom

and seat belts, Or were their deaths due to lack of structural strength of the buggy?

In others, however, the problem is that a heavy mechanical fast object was crashed into the buggy. It's to protect the idiot motorists from the trauma of killing somebody or maiming them.

I can only wonder how many bicyclists, motorcyclists, or pedestrians were called. And will we now see a foot-operator's license required, with safety glass rear windows and seatbelts.

Heaven help the next person in a wheelchair that experiences some horrible driving accident.

To get a drivers license to prove you can handle a car what is wrong with requiring some to take a test to show they know the "rules" of the road and can handle a horse or 2. At 65 I know I can't, some bicyclist's could take some road lessons too.

"driving" on a highway. I'll bet there are even laws against it. From the article, many Amish are already flouting the law by driving at night without lights.

there may be exceptions (e.g. crossing a road), and this may not be the case everywhere.

County roads are the same deal. State and Federal highways allow for crossing only. I live in Polk Co. and all the town roads are wide open to them as are all the surrounding county's. Most of the towns also allow for traffic on their city streets. This is allowed by state statute. The roads are considered to be ATV routes by the state. It is not required to have insurance or a drivers to operate them.

With rear view mirrors, turn signals and seat belts. I see them driven by under age kids with their friends and dogs in the cart. Bikes never stop for stop signs or lights. Of course, a fair amount of cars don’t stop either.

They don't want modern technology or it's safety features. I know we look down on some religious sects, but the Amish keep to themselves and don't meddle in our affairs. They deserve the same respect.

Focus on the religious right, who DOES meddle in our affairs.

They are driving on public roads, and they are notorious for flouting driving safety laws, including driving drunk and without lights.

I am not an apologist for racist, misogynistic sects who are also notorious for handwaving incest and who run most of the puppy mills in the US.

They also, like everyone else should, be made to vax their kids, and to be amde to ahve their kids stay in school past 8th grade.

ALSO -- THEY ARE THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT! They are firm wingnut voters.

They are basicly helpless in those buggies against cars not to mention trucks. Any safety requirements would be welcome to me...........

guess they'll take what they get.

i guess you really *do* learn something new every day. now i'm done for the day and it's not even noon yet.

Mennonites on the other hand do engage in civic activities.

And they and Mennonites run most of the puppy mills in the US. I ahve never understood why people laud them.

How they treat girls and women is enough to say they suck.

Other than to affect local ordnance, merely 10-15% of eligible Amish vote, as electing a commander in chief violates a tenet of their pacifistic religion, and is strongly discouraged by local churches.

(Don Kraybill, The Amish and the State)

I have never understood why people make claims yet noticeably fall short of producing objective evidence to support those claims.

Bet it's triple

and was acquitted. It was their fault for driving the cart home after harvesting corn.

The guy was drunk and speeding

..already have those, save the car seats perhaps, and they may have those too, but I always see babies in mom's arms. Actually, I've never seen seat belts either, but I can't see adding those as a religious deal breaker. Before I sold the farm and moved away, I'd have Eli down at the harness shop make a nice set.

If one considers the easily retrofitted devices the govt is asking for, I really don't understand the problem. They're allowed to have mirrors, they're Amish, not freakin' vampires.

As for paying their dues with insurance and a license for using our public funded highway system, cry me a river.

with different rules.

Some here even use cell phones for their business. Actually, they use a lot of battery operated devices like boom boxes in their buggies, but if joining the Amish means I can drive without paying for a license or insurance while ignoring all other founding principles, count me in.

"It's against my religion" should not be a way to get around being a responsible citizen any more than it should be used as a cudgel for wedding planners or a way to trim corporate budgets.

Add some common sense safety equipment and help pay for that buggy lane with a license. Claims that meeting these regulations will cause one to relocate a huge farm that has been in the family for generations is an empty threat.

construction, etc. Anyway, have not heard of this. We have Amish on most roads in WI (except freeways of course).

It looks to be an easy twenty mile day trip.

I wonder if the Amish own land that the kook brothers or other campaign donor(s) want?

It would be more dangerous to have a seat belt when in a buggy. A car and horse are very different and any accident would be entirely different. A car comes to a stop. There are times the horse does not and seat belts just keep a person in for a drag. How stupid are the people?

I pass their buggies nearly every day - and have no problem with them.

They always wave, and I always wave back.

Finest Kind.

lol

that alert motorists in areas where the Amish are liable to be on the road with buggies. The buggies are equipped with big triangular reflectors on the back to be more easily seen. There was an Amish in his buggy in front of me on the road just a couple days ago. No problem.

But, tbh, out where I live, it seems more and more Amish are getting rides in cars/vans to get them where they want to go. It's much rarer to see a horse-drawn cart today than it was in my area.

At the time we sorta knew the community was the but rarely saw them. Do wonder what brought this on. More details would be good

That has the highest Amish population in the state. You regularly pass them on the roads, the stores all have hitching posts out front for them. We even shop at their discount and surplus stores. I buy all my cedar fence posts from one of their sawmills.

I could see requiring collision insurance maybe. And a separate driving test geared toward rules of the road (they don't do much parallel parking). But the rest is not practical, even dangerous for them. I don't recall hearing of a buggy/auto accident in the 4 years I've been back here. All I've seen at night have some kind of light on them, usually a battery powered flasher.

Amish is not a religion, its a way of life. If you talk to some of the people here that are former Amish, and have come out into the real world, they will tell you about the hypocrisy. They will use forklifts, tractors, etc., when they need to because its for "business". They have phones, but they are in a separate little shack out back.

I’m all for anything that might keep them from cruelly treating horses, and the Amish are one of the largest supplier of puppies to pet stores. Dogs live in horrible conditions so that these people can make money off the puppies.

She never had a name...she spent her entire life in a small cage...she still twirls as she did in her cage...her teeth were rotted and infected so she stopped going into heat...not breeding...they would have killed her had the rescue group not taken her. I adopted her and took her to the vet almost as soon as she arrive...she had multiple teeth pulled and her remaining teeth cleaned...antibiotics...she got better at first she was scared of everything. She just sat...it was two weeks before we heard her bark...we had driven from Ohio to Indiana...six hour drive to get her...she never made a sound on the way back...now she is a happy healthy dog...who loves toys, cuddles and playing...truly a miracle. She has three other doggy friends. Lily is a pomeranian as are Molly and Benjy. My son's wife is allergic to the dog they adopted so now we have a small Jack Russel named Sophy. She and Lilly are best bud. Truly, those puppy mills are evil and shouldn't be allowed.

Sincerely, thank you.

Many drivers are horrible to Amish buggy drivers. They come way close to pass, rev their engines and honk when they pass. They pass too close to the horses. Amish are not aggressive in anyway. If car drivers need a stupid yellow or orange slow moving vehicle to slow down for the Amish buggy, then they need more than the Amish do.

Republicans, who control Wisconsin, brag about removing regulations. But let's harass a minority group that won't even fight back...

If the want to improve road safety in Wisconsin.... 1. Fix some Roads... 2. Make motorcyclists wear helmets.