SPRING VALLEY, Minn. — A car crashed into an Amish horse-drawn buggy with four children inside, killing two girls and the horse while injuring the other two others, authorities in southern Minnesota said.
The two girls killed were seven and 11 years old. Two other children, ages nine and 13, were hurt in the crash.
The crash occurred Monday morning north of Spring Valley on County Road 1 while the children were on their way to school.
Amish horses and buggies on the road are a normal sight in the area, and the crash highlights a growing problem of drivers not paying enough attention to their surroundings.
“They’re our neighbors and if they’re on the road, they are coming to do business with us. We just have to watch out, drive slowly,” Spring Valley resident Julie Broadwater said. “Highway 1 is a curvy road; a lot of areas are no passing zones.”
The county has a high Amish population, and many signs warn drivers of buggies taking the same roads as vehicles.
“The signs are there. Like all of our signs, they have a purpose. They are there to alert you that it is a slower moving, it is a different type of vehicle,” Mike Dougherty, a director of public engagement and communications at the state’s Department of Transportation.
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