ASHLAND — Twenty-six Amish who refused to pay their fines for violating a law that requires flashing lights on their buggies appeared in court on Friday.
Once there, Ashland Municipal Court Judge John Good ruled out the possibility of jail time for them and instead said he would impose liens on their real estate.
It’s the responsibility of the driver not to hit something, not the something not to get hit.
See halfsack’s comment. To elaborate on that point, actually good & competent drivers have many responsibilities. Among them is to see…and be seen.
As others have said, a lot of these buggies are all black. And they’re puttering around the road, on a dark nights, well under established speed limits. 2 vehicles traveling at very different speeds, the slow one is hard to see. That’s just begging for an accident.
At least where I live, it is technically illegal to drive without headlights on when it’s raining. If windshield wipers are required, so are headlights. This is to bolster visibility in poor weather conditions. Also just headlights in general, you can get pulled over & ticketed for driving at night without headlights. Why should the Amish be a dangerous exception to the rules of the road??
This alone: Roads funded by taxpayers, which IIRC the Amish are largely tax-exempt. Thus: if they wish to travel on our roads, they need to abide by our rules & not make the roads more dangerous.
To be slightly more accommodating to Luddites, we could put hi-vis reflective tape on the buggies. But again as others have said, the Amish have all kinds of workarounds/exceptions/justifications to get what they want. They have mobile phones. Some have snowmobiles. They have generators, so they’re not “tied into the worldly grid” but they generate & use electricity. So maybe they can get used to the idea of battery-powered lights on their buggies, for visibility.
This comment is surprisingly car brained. Just change a few words and see what it reads.
As others have said, a lot of these cyclists all wear black. And they’re puttering around the road, on a dark nights, well under established speed limits. 2 vehicles traveling at very different speeds, the slow one is hard to see. That’s just begging for an accident.
At least where I live, it is technically illegal to drive without headlights on when it’s raining. If windshield wipers are required, so are headlights. This is to bolster visibility in poor weather conditions. Also just headlights in general, you can get pulled over & ticketed for driving at night without headlights. Why should the cyclists be a dangerous exception to the rules of the road??
That’s the general idea, but life’s not that black and white. It’s better if both parties contribute to avoiding collisions. It’s the same reason why I’m required to have brake lights and hazard lights on my car.
Absolutely, I still don’t ride my bike on the freeway, and I still check both ways before crossing roads, even when there is a crosswalk.
Sometimes reality is at odds with our idealistic views.
It’s the responsibility of everyone on the road to follow the same laws. A horse and buggy are about the same size as a car and everyone I’ve ever seen is painted completely black. Many Amish communities have been running battery powered led signal and head lights for decades with no issues.
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