ASHLAND — Twenty-six Amish who refused to pay their fines for violating a law that requires flashing lights on their buggies appeared in court on Friday.
Once there, Ashland Municipal Court Judge John Good ruled out the possibility of jail time for them and instead said he would impose liens on their real estate.
Especially because the buggies are black, which blend in at night/dusk.
Reflective tape is a thing. That can be used without electricity.
They don’t like colours (flashing wealth and putting yourself above your fellow man) I think reflective tape might be just a bit to flashy…
At least where I used to live around the Amish long ago they would put those big orange reflective triangles on each end. The rest was plain as can be as usual. It sounds like it depends on the group but many are fine using something not-entirely-plain if it has a safety benefit. I’ve seen the Amish using safety gasses etc.
Agreed, that would be a good first step in the right direction. It shouldn’t remove the requirement for lights.
Reflective tape should also be on the horses’ gear.
But like deer and dogs are basically camouflaged. So is a fallen tree. A driver needs to be able to avoid road hazards that haven’t been designed for visibility.
If it’s so dark that it’s hard to distinguish non-reflective objects on the road, the driver needs to slow down until their object perception time is well within their stopping time. And that needs to cover the hardest objects to perceive, IMO.