WLKM Radio 95.9 FM
A $70,000 federal highway-safety grant has been awarded to the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Health Agency in an effort to reduce vehicle crashes with Amish buggies.
The goal, according to terms of the grant, is to reduce crashes by 15 percent over the next 10 months.
Grant coordinator Josh Englehart explained that since 2016, there have been 261 crashes statewide, with 78 in the three adjacent counties. Three fatalities occurred in Branch County in 2019 and another in 2021. Both crashes were in Algansee Township.
According to the 2023 Michigan Amish Directory, 1,080 of the 3,578 Amish families in Michigan live in the tri-county region.
Englehart will continue to engage area Amish bishops to discuss best practices for making the roads safer for both the Amish and occupants in motorized vehicles. Crashes with buggies cause trauma to the Amish but can also result in emotional trauma to those who strike them, Englehart pointed out.
Using the Amish Directory, a GIS map shows the concentration of the Amish community living in the eastern half of St. Joseph County and the eastern half of Branch County.
