Growing Amish populations have led to more risks of buggy-vehicle accidents; some states are adding 'buggy lanes'

Horses drink from water troughs outside a Walmart in Tennessee.
(Photo by Lonnie Lee Hood, The Daily Yonder)

A growing Amish population has prompted some states to add “buggy lanes” to prevent accidents between horse-drawn carriages and motorized vehicles. “Amish communities are among the fastest-growing population groups in the United States, and their use of horse and buggies has created an infrastructure problem in some rural areas, reports Lonnie Lee Hood for The Daily Yonder. “Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, is one example where the Tennessee Department of Transportation constructed a buggy lane exclusively for Amish use following a number of buggy-related accidents and ongoing safety issues.”

“Tennessee isn’t the only state doing this, either. In 2020, the Geauga County Maple Leaf reported that the Ohio Department of Transportation launched an $11.8 million safety initiative for 2021 and 2022 that included funding for buggy lanes. In 2022, the Ashland Source reported that State Route 545 in Ashland County, Ohio, would also receive a $5 million buggy lane,” Hood writes. “According to a 2022 Amish population profile published by the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College, the estimated population of the Amish community in North America in June 2022, was 373,620, an increase of about 12,150 since 2021. More than 62% of that population lives in Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, but there are communities outside those states — like the one in Lawrenceburg.”

Hood reports, “Dr. Alan Shuldiner, co-director of the University of Maryland Clinical and Translational Research Institute, says that because large families are culturally valued, Amish birth rates have always been high. It’s not uncommon for couples to have seven or eight children. And while his research does not focus on transportation issues, he says there’s no doubt that buggy-driving Amish communities run the risk of vehicular accidents.” 

According to Hood, “Drivers in Lawrence County have differing opinions on the buggy lane, although most support and appreciate their Amish neighbors. . . . Myranda Thornton, a county resident who drives in Lawrenceburg daily, said she’s seen many near-accidents due to inattentive drivers and thinks the money is well-spent if it will increase safety measures.” County Executive David Morgan told Hood: “The buggy lane is designed to protect our Amish residents as they travel along Lawrence County’s busiest highway, and I’m so happy to see it almost complete. We all know when a wreck involves an Amish buggy, the people in that buggy, and their horse, are very likely to receive severe injuries.”