MIDDLEBURY, Ind. — A tragic Labor Day accident near Middlebury is raising questions about the laws surrounding the use of horse-drawn carts and buggies on roadways.
Two Amish children — 10-year-old Jenna Miller and 7-year-old Jolisa Miller — recieved fatal injuries and three others were injured when an SUV hit the pony carts they were riding in Monday morning. All six children on the cart were 10 or younger.
In all, four children were air-lifted from the scene, with Jolisa Miller dying not long after her arrival at the hospital.
Investigators said the pony pulled out in front of the SUV from a private driveway. The SUV hit the pony and the impact of the crash pulled the two carts into the vehicle's path. The speed limit on that stretch of road is 55 miles per hour, but Elkhart County Undersheriff Sean Holmes said investigators will check to see if the SUV had a device that could tell them how fast the SUV was going at the point of impact.
Goshen College professor Steve Nolt has worked closely with Amish communities in both Pennsylvania and Elkhart County for more than 15 years.
“In some ways the Amish probably think about children in a pony cart much like children on a bicycle or a scooter or a moped in wider society,” Nolt explained.
He also said many Amish schools actually use a workbook to educate Amish children about buggy safety. But kids don’t generally get those workbooks until seventh or eighth grade. The child driving the pony cart hit by that SUV Monday was only 10 – the age of a fourth or fifth-grade student.
When asked about the age of the child driving the cart, Holmes answered, “Do you allow a 10-year-old to ride a bicycle on the roadway? Yes we do. There's no law governing that. The point is we all share the road and vehicles themselves do not have total ownership of the roadway.”
The Indiana Driver’s Manual says riders of horse-drawn vehicles have the same rights and responsibilities as all other drivers. But just above that part of the manual, the section on bicycles says a large number of bicyclists are children and "…driver(s) cannot assume a child will adhere to the laws."
“Maybe that’s something we ought to look at as a community – if they’re going to be allowed to drive on the road in carts, how about some education just like bikes?” Holmes said.
When asked whether consideration should be made to possibly change cart and buggy laws, 12th District Senator Carlin Yoder (R) said it’s not something that needs to be looked at right now, in a knee-jerk reaction while the family is mourning.
“We do need to take time to learn from this. We need to keep in mind that the Amish have a distinct way of life – we need to respect that, but we need to make sure they are kept safe,” Yoder told WSBT.
House Republican representative for the 49th District, Wes Culver, said he plans to talk with the half dozen other state representatives who also live in Amish communities.
“I would not be interested in putting an age limit on properly marked vehicles used as farm equipment on the road. But if it's used for recreation – a cart, buggy, tractor or bike – I would be in favor of having an approved age where children could legally use it on the roadway," Culver said.
He went on to say he also thinks it might be a good idea to give buggy and cart drivers a "skills test" that they have to pass, similar to the rules of the road test taken in order to get a driver's license.
Friday afternoon update
Jeneva Miller,10, and 4-year-old Jared miller have been upgraded from critical to serious condition. Joyce Miller,9, was discharged from the hospital Wednesday.
