HILLSDALE, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — Another quiet country road, another reminder that Michigan’s traffic laws weren’t written with horse-drawn buggies in mind.

A Dec. 21 collision on Mead Road between a pickup truck and an Amish buggy left three people hospitalized in Hillsdale County, with two flown out for treatment.

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Sheriff’s deputies were called to the scene around 1:49 p.m. The buggy carried seven people, including five children. A 32-year-old man was airlifted to Michigan Medicine, while a juvenile was flown to Mott Children’s Hospital. A second juvenile was taken by ambulance to Hillsdale Hospital.

The 31-year-old pickup driver was not injured, and the crash remains under investigation.

Incidents like this are far from rare in southern Michigan, where large Amish communities share rural roads with fast-moving traffic. State police data show 261 vehicle-buggy crashes statewide from 2016 to 2023, resulting in 18 deaths. Branch, Hillsdale, and St. Joseph counties alone account for nearly 30% of those crashes.