Amish teen dies in Indiana buggy accident
ECONOMY, Ind. — An Amish teen was killed after the buggy in which he was riding was struck on a federal highway near this community of about 200 residents.
Jonas Beiler, 17, of Econony was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident on U.S. 35, about 2 miles east of town, said Sgt. John Bowling of Indiana State Police. When Trooper Joshua Bayly arrived at the scene about 70 miles east of Indianapolis, he found the accident involving a horse-drawn buggy and three cars.
The buggy, driven by Michael Lapp, 21 of Modoc, Ind., was northbound on U.S. 35 and had no lights, a preliminary investigation showed. A northbound 2009 Ford, driven by Martin Lawson, 44 of Hagerstown, Ind., was unable to stop before striking the rear of the buggy, knocking it into the southbound lane.
A southbound Buick driven by Norman Zile, 51, of Middletown, Ind., then sideswiped the buggy. During the collision, Beiler was thrown from the buggy onto the road where northbound Pontiac driven by Bailey Wilkison, 17, of Mooreland, Ind., struck him.
Lapp, a female passenger in the buggy and the drivers of the three cars were uninjured. A veterinarian treated the horse pulling the buggy at the scene, and a trailer transported the horse for further examination.
Four agencies were called to respond to the wreck, and U.S. 35 was closed for more than five hours.
Thursday night's wreck was one of almost three dozen vehicle-buggy accidents so far this year, including three this week, according to news reports compiled by Mission to Amish People, a website maintained by a former Old Order Amish couple, Joe and Esther Keim of Savannah, Ohio. At least seven people have been killed, all riding in buggies, and at least two horses also were killed or had to be euthanized.
Almost a third of the crashes occurred in Pennsylvania, where the Amish have had communities since the early 1700s; however, other wrecks have happened in at least a half dozen other states this year and Alberta, Canada, the website shows. Indiana had another wreck less than three weeks ago.
As of 2015, about 300,000 members of various Amish sects had settled in communities in 31 states and two Canadian provinces, according to the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. But more than 6 in 10 Amish people live in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana.
Follow the (Richmond, Ind.) Palladium-Item on Twitter: @pi_news
Related: