Look Mom and Dad! A horse and buggy!
Wayne Dellinger
  

This is an excited shout often heard from the back seat of many cars traveling rural roadways in parts of Ohio. The horse and buggy is the most easily recognized symbol of Ohio's Amish population.

A population that generally prefers to stat out of the mainstream and spotlight has ironically grown into one of the leading tourism draws in Ohio. The horse and buggy that catches the eyes of tourists is a legitimate means of transportation for the Amish. In more recent years, the horse and buggy also has caught the eye of Amish Safety committees, law enforcement and Ohio State University Extension (OSUE).

Ohio has Amish Populations in at least 33 of its 88 counties. One-third of all Amish in North America live in Ohio, with the Wayne/Homes County community representing the largest settlement anywhere. For generations the Amish have used horse drawn buggies, bicycles and walking as their primary methods of transportation. While these have remained relatively constant, rural populations have increased and tourism in Amish communities has risen. Members of Amish Safety Committees have reported that the population of Amish in Ohio doubles roughly every 20 years. This leads to many more motorists, buggies, bicycles and pedestrians sharing the roads, and creates an increased risk for incidents.

Amish Transportation Safety Project
In 1991, some OSUE county offices and the OSUE Agricultural Safety office began work with Ohio's Amish in response to a request from the Amish for assistance in decreasing the number of motor vehicle/buggy crashes. This resulted in the development of a Buggy Driving Safety Curriculum for use in Amish schools. In 1993, work continued in the area of buggy lighting and marking research and educational programming. The Ohio Department of Public Safety (ODPS) and the Governor's Highway Safety Office (GHSO) provided funding beginning in 1996 to expand these programs.

For the past five years, the ODPS/GHSO increased funding to support the Amish Transportation Safety Program at the OSUE Agricultural Safety Office. This close collaboration was a result of greater frequencies in injury and fatal crashes involving horse-drawn buggies and motor vehicles, and the request from the Amish for more education efforts.

Buggy safety
The Amish Transportation Safety Program encourages acceptance of a universal buggy lighting and marking program among all Amish of Ohio. This is a continuation of previous work with more emphasis on localized plans.

When dealing with a variety of audiences of both Amish and English, it was necessary to develop different approaches for disseminating information. These different tools increase exposure of the program and help more conservative groups of Amish take the first steps toward safety awareness and increased visibility while traveling on Ohio's roads. The tools available at this time include demonstration buggies with recommended lighting and marking configurations, poster displays, a video made in cooperation with the Ohio State Highway Patrol, fact sheets and other printed material.

Bicycle and pedestrian safety
Bicycle and pedestrian safety education, awareness and acceptance by the Amish are more recent efforts included in the program. This was a result of a request from the Amish out of concern for their children traveling to and from school. Target audiences were expanded to include young and old Amish as well as the general motoring public. Some of the work in the areas of bicycle and pedestrian safety, such as fact sheets, are also applicable to rural audiences as a whole.

New supplements were developed for the 1991 Buggy Driving Safety curriculum to address bicycle and pedestrian safety issues. An evaluation of the supplements was conducted in 2003 on the effectiveness of the lesson plans. When surveyed, all of the teachers who used the supplements in their schools reported they planed to use the lessons again. A pre-test/post-test study of student knowledge resulted in all students improving test scores as a result of the supplements.

All who travel Ohio roads
Educational efforts must also be made toward the motorists who share the same roads as the Amish. Amish Transportation Safety displays were present at county fairs in the four largest Amish-populated counties and varying smaller Amish-populated counties and varying smaller Amish-populated counties from 2002 to 2004. These displays, in cooperation with the Ohio State Highway Patrol or County Sheriff's Office, provide a gentle reminder that buggies are in the community, and drivers need to practice safe driving when approaching buggies on the road.

Safety programs will not prevent all incidents from occurring. However, we may reduce the number or at least reduce the severity of these incidents when they do occur. Cooperation from the Amish and the motoring public is essential for an effective program. The Amish Transportation Safety Program is working toward addressing safety issues while keeping recommendations effective, economical and acceptable to Amish beliefs.

 

Wayne Dellinger, program coordinator, can be reached at 614-292-1952 or dellinger.6@osu.edu