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Authors

Cory Anderson

Keywords

Amish; Old Order Mennonite; horse and buggy; illumination; glare; crash

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify time periods of particular crash risk through the day for Amish and Old Order Mennonite horse & buggies. As suggested in prior studies, transitional illumination (dawn/dusk) may be a risk to travel because of a lighting situation that lowers visibility, and the sun’s glare at these same times may obstruct motorists’ vision. The speed differences between buggies and motor vehicles are already great; reduced vision compounds the problem of response time. To assess risk, I compare horse and buggy traffic counts to the times of horse & buggy crashes over a nine-year period. Periods of particularly high risk include the early morning and early evening, during times of illumination transition and high possibility of glare, though the dusk period is punctuated with an hour of low risk. The afternoon and late evening are periods of modest risk. Mid-morning hours are the lowest risk. This study yields mixed results for the hypothesis. When considered in light of previous findings, this study brings more evidence to bear on illumination and glare as particular risk factors for horse and buggy crashes.

Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge an anonymous reviewer for his/her insightful suggestions.

Notes

This article is the third of three by the author addressing horse and buggy crashes. The other two articles are in the same issue, pages 79-99 and 100-115.

ISSN

2471-6383

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