Amish sect wins reflector dispute

The Johnstown Tribune-Democrat ^ | October 22, 2003 | SANDRA K. REABUCK

[Willie Green]

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.

EBENSBURG – A conservative Amish sect has won the right – at least for now – to use gray reflective tape on the back of their horse-drawn buggies to warn of a slow-moving vehicle.

A three-judge panel of the Superior Court, in a 2-1 decision, ruled that state law requiring bright orange triangles is unconstitutional as applied to the Swartzentruber Amish.

The conservative sect has families in the Ebensburg and Carrolltown areas of Cambria County.

Requiring them to use bright orange violates their religious freedom, the two state judges said in a 36-page opinion.

But District Attorney David Tulowitzki said yesterday he will appeal, citing the state´s overriding interest in public safety on the highway.

“The majority opinion basically said we didn´t prove the compelling issue of safety. We disagree because people are getting killed and injured as a result of not having the triangle on the buggies,” Tulowitzki said in an interview at his courthouse office.

But the ruling was hailed by Pittsburgh attorney Donna Doblick, representing the Amish, as keeping alive Pennsylvania´s founding principles dating to William Penn: “Not to tread lightly on individual´s rights, the right of religious freedom.”

Doblick, in a telephone interview from her Pittsburgh office, added, “There´s no evidence anywhere that the devices the Amish are using are less safe than (triangles).”

The state panel did not overturn the convictions outright. Rather, the case was remanded to county court for further consideration.

But Tulowitzki thinks the prosecution did prove its case and decided instead to appeal rather than go back before Judge Timothy Creany. He will either ask the full Superior Court – 15 judges – to reconsider the ruling or petition the state Supreme Court for review.

The Old Order Amish say the triangles offend their religious beliefs. They say the garish color violates their simple lifestyle and that displaying it would show they rely on it rather than on God for their safety.

Members have been using red lanterns and outlining the rear of their buggies with gray tape as safety precautions.

“The decision will be a welcome relief to our clients who wanted to get the same rights they have elsewhere,” Doblick said. She said that she would be driving later in the day to Cambria County to advise her clients – who do not have telephones – of the decision.

A number of other states where the members of the Swartzentruber Amish sect live grant an exemption to the requirement to display the triangles.

Members of the Pennsylvania sect – who moved here about six years ago from Ohio – have repeatedly been ticketed by state and local police for failing to display the triangle on their buggies.

The decision involves a joint appeal of 20 members of the community who received a total of 27 tickets. They initially were convicted by district justices and filed an appeal to county court.

In June 2002, Creany, saying that traveling safety is paramount on Pennsylvania roads, ruled against the Amish. He upheld the convictions and fined them $95 each, plus court costs.

The state judges determined the prosecution had failed to show that the religious objectors´ conduct poses a demonstrable threat of harm to the state´s interests.

The majority judges determined that, even though the state´s expert concluded the triangle is the most visible form of identification during daylight, prosecutors did not show that fewer accidents resulted among those using the emblem than among those who did not.

Without that comparative information, Creany had only a “scant basis on which to conclude that the emblem achieves a decrease in the rate of collision that the reflective tape cannot achieve,” the judges ruled.

“Because the evidence fails to substantiate a threat posed by the Swartzentrubers´ failure to display the SMV emblem, we cannot find that (state) interest (in highway safety) sufficiently compelling to justify intrusion on the Swartzentrubers´ sincerely held religious beliefs,” the majority said.

Judge Zoran Popovich, in a 10-page dissent, said he agreed with Creany that the state´s interest in safety is not met by permitting the Swartzentrubers to apply the gray reflective tape and a red lantern to their buggies.

The state´s expert concluded the tape is not as visible to motorists approaching from the rear of the buggies during daylight, when most of the buggies are on the roads, Popovich said.

[george wythe]

Imagine traveling at 55 mph and coming upon a car traveling at 45 mph that is 500 feet (about 1/10 of a mile) ahead. After six seconds, you will have 412 feet to react before colliding with that car. However, if traveling at 55 mph and coming upon a horse-drawn vehicle traveling at 5 mph that is 500 feet ahead, you will have only 44 feet to react before colliding in the same six seconds. The car would hit the horse-drawn vehicle in just 6 1/2 seconds. Therefore, immediately upon seeing the slow moving vehicle emblem, slow down and prepare to pass with caution.

[Catspaw]

The Amish have no problem with diesel trucks hauling off their milk production every day, or having trucks cart off sheds and gazebos they have built.

The Amish in my in-laws area are allowed to use generators to keep their milk cool. The dairies won't buy the milk otherwise.

[george wythe]

Amish Buggy hit by truck; teen killed

An Amish teenager was killed and her brother and sister were injured when the horse-drawn buggy they were riding in was struck by a pickup last week.

The three were on their way home from processing chickens at a local farm Friday when their buggy was struck from behind, tossing their horses 120-150 feet, according to investigators at the scene. The horses were killed in the accident.

The trio was heading west on Mississippi 342 when their buggy was struck by Jeremy Mullins, 16. Mullins told officers the sun was in his eyes, and he did not see the buggy until the last minute.

Officers said Mullins tried to stop his truck and there were 134 feet of skid tracks on the road to the point of impact. A debris field stretched 100 feet beyond the impact point.

This is the second major wreck involving the Amish in the past three months and the first fatality. The other wreck was July 8 on Mississippi 341 South. That buggy also was struck from behind.

[LooneyTick]

The day glow orange is supposed to be the only color not found in nature. That is why hunters use it in their clothing.

[Burr5]

Here in N.E. Indiana they are almost exclusively Republicans.

[PLMerite]

"Red reflective tape may have been too gaudy for them."

Not as gaudy as all the red there'll be when some SUV plows into a buggy-full of them.

[Tribune7]

ping

[DC native]

They pay taxes but do not vote. Nor do they accept social insecurity (in general). I am not sure if they are exempt from paying into the SS system, though.

The orange triangles do not interfere with their ability to practice their religion and they are necessary to protect the rest of us from the trauma of hitting one of their buggies and hurting their children. I lived near them for many years. I felt that I could not use some of the roads that I helped pay for after dark because I could not see them. They load their buggies with their children and hit the road regardless of how light it is outside.

They are exempt from the draft because of their religion, but if my Catholic sons tried that tact, it would go over like a lead balloon.

There is nothing special about them, after the romance of their lifestyle ceases to be a novelty. After you live among them for awhile, you notice that they are not very friendly but they are happy to take your money at every turn.

[Burr5]

And I've seen plenty of them voting in Grabill, BTW.

[Burr5]

And they are extraordinarilly friendly, IMO.
Jeez, I should just take off. Too many experts around here.

[Scenic Sounds]

Hey, how come they get to use gray?

Unfair!!

[Catspaw]

Not as gaudy as all the red there'll be when some SUV plows into a buggy-full of them.

My in-laws lived out in the country in north central Wisconsin. My #3 sister's in-laws lived out in the country in southwest Wisconsin. They had one trait in common: while driving on a country road (paved or gravel) they drove in the center of the road--even going up a hill or around a curve. They didn't do this on the country truck roads or the highways, just the country roads. That's just as terrifying as encountering an Amish buggy.

[gridlock]

You could always slow down a little...

[DC native]

Well, I only know about the Amish in Southern Maryland, and they definitely do not vote. There are some Mennonites who look like them but have different habits.

Why take off? There's plenty of room for all of our opinions. Anyway, I have low standards...just be nice to me and you can disagree with me all you want! :-D

[DC native]

I always drove very slowly and carefully around the areas where they live, but it was just too scary to come up over a hill and have one in front of me, so i stopped using the roads. Which group of Amish have you lived near?

[gridlock]

Well, I gotta go. My draft horse is a little lame, and it's going to take me an extra half hour to get home!

[frodolives]

Did you hear about the Amish man who was so cruel to his wife?

He drove her buggy. (ba-da-bump)

[george wythe]

Backside of a buggy with three recommended safety features:

1. Gray reflective tape that stretches from corner to corner along the top of the buggy, as well as six-inch pieces of tape on each side of the buggy.

2. Slow Moving Vehicle sign. This orange/red sign is displayed in the center of the back of the buggy.

3. Tail lights that are four-inches across.

Almost all Amish sects use safety feature #1 (gray tape).

Most Amish sects, except small offshoots such as the Swartzentruber, use safety feature #2 (orange/red triangle).

Most Amish sects avoid safety feature #3.

[Hermann the Cherusker]

The gray tape is reflective tape. Its not just ordainry duct tape.

Chalk up a victory for my relatives.

Note this nonesense:

The state´s expert concluded the tape is not as visible to motorists approaching from the rear of the buggies during daylight, when most of the buggies are on the roads, Popovich said.

The same reasoning says black cars should not be driven without bright orange triangles on them.

They mention daylight because the gray tape is actually more reflective at night than the orange signs.

[Hermann the Cherusker]

The orange triangle is guady on a black vehicle. Imagine all black cars being reuqired to have a bright splash of orange paint on each side.