Community meeting focuses on safety

Feb 22, 2022 at 08:40 pm by Observer-Review


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Community meeting focuses on safety

YATES COUNTY--Following a year of high-profile horse and buggy accidents in Yates County, Sheriff Ron Spike hosted a slow-moving vehicle (SMV) workshop at the Benton Fire House Tuesday, Feb. 15. Spike, who spoke for close to 90 minutes, reiterated to the horse-drawn buggy riders in attendance that visibility is key.
"85 percent of these crashes occur through no fault of the occupants of the slow-moving vehicles because they occur when a motor vehicle hits the buggy in the rear end at high speed... so we wanted to talk about awareness of these kinds of crashes that occur here and in several other states," said Spike.
Careful to call the incidents crashes as opposed to accidents because an accident denotes a lack of responsibility, Spike said he has been trying for years to get the state to include a portion of the driving manual on slow-moving vehicles like farm equipment and horse and buggies.
"I have been trying to get the DMV to include a section," Spike mentioned.
Part of what makes these types of collisions so devastating is that oftentimes motorists don't know what is happening until it is too late. And the 3,000+ pound car vs. a buggy that has been made as light as possible to facilitate being pulled by a horse, often leaves the car driver unharmed and the carriage occupants ejected from their riding area and in critical condition or worse.
"The main focus though was the closure on the collision time because it takes only a few seconds until you're on them... motorists might be distracted or speeding unreasonably so I had several slides on (how to make the buggies more conspicuous)," Spike said.
Most drivers of horse and buggies have their vehicles completely black with an SMV triangle affixed, a law in New York. The addition of battery-powered LED lights has been a recent addition to help increase visibility.
"It's not as conspicuous as other colors and the reflective triangle as a slow-moving vehicle emblem (helps but is not enough)," Spike added. "I am a big fan of the amber strobe lights they are starting to put on buggies now because it has an oscillating movement of light that gets people's attention."
Organized by Henry Martin, a safety leader in the Mennonite community, another large part of the seminar was stressing the importance of immediately contacting 911 when an accident occurs. A rapid response is key for any crash but especially for ones involving horse and buggies as they require a greater response of first responders due to the need for veterinarians and more.
"We just have to be aware that those are the types of vehicles in our community," Spike said.
Beyond the workshop, Spike said the sheriff's department is working hard to encourage local municipalities to increase signage on roads often traveled by horse and buggies to warn motorists of their presence.
"We are trying to educate our young drivers," Spike said. "We have a program that our school resource officer is using at the Dundee High School."
Spike also took a moment to thank Yates residents who on their own have been putting up signs reminding motorists they have to share the road.
Along with Spike, Soil and Water Conservation District Sr. Technician Tom Eskildsen spoke during the evening to farmers about the dangers associated with manure and the resulting chemical gas.

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