As a digital news producer, I often find myself writing news reports about local car accidents, but what about the buggy in the past? Were they just as prevalent, and how dangerous was buggy driving?
Here are five examples of buggy accidents that happened in the past. They are by no means a full sampling of accidents happening during the early 1900s, but I feel they give a good look at the most common types of accidents involving buggies.
1. Boy Thrown From Buggy
Buggies did not have seat belts in them, so when there was a sudden jolt or collision, people would get thrown about. That was the case in 1914 when a 3-year-old boy was thrown from the cart.
“Mr. Larson was on his way to Moline to deliver goods. He was riding in a single buggy. As he approached 26th Street, a wagon drove in front of him. A street car and an automobile were approaching from the east at the same time and hemmed him in. Before he was able to stop the horse the buggy crashed into the heavy wagon, throwing his son out of the buggy onto the pavement. It was first thought that the boy was seriously injured and he was carried into Shield’s grocery store and a physician summoned. An examination showed that he sustained only a few minor bruises and cuts in the fall, and today is none the worse for the experience.” [Source: Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.), 21 May 1914.]
2. Falls Asleep on Buggy, Wakes Up On Train
Something strange happened in 1916 when a man, driving his buggy, falls asleep and wakes up on top of a train.
“James Torre, Terre Haute, Indiana, farmers went to sleep while driving in his buggy. He woke up on top a locomotive going about 50 miles an hour. The last thing he remembered doing was wrapping the reins around the whip. The buggy had been struck by the train, the horse killed, the buggy shattered, and Torre tossed atop the engine.” [Source: The day book. (Chicago, Ill.), 04 Nov. 1916.]
3. Broken Skull and Dislocated Jaw
It seems almost impossible that two buggies would collide with each other given their speed as compared to cars today, and yet the old newspapers are filled with accounts of buggies crashing into each other. For example, the following incident that happened in the summer of 1914:
“Benjamin Vain was killed yesterday afternoon on the Eastern Avenue road, near Columbus Park, when a carriage in which he was riding with Scott Preston collided with that of John Freitag. Preston was cut on the head and body. Vain’s skull was broken and his jaw dislocated when the horse Preston was driving became unmanageable.” [Source: Evening star. (Washington, D.C.), 20 July 1914.]
4. Car Smashes Buggy
Of course, it is not surprising that there were a lot of automobiles crashing into buggies. And this was happening well into the 1930s:
“According to officers, the automobile was traveling west at a high speed when it crashed into the buggy occupied by the woman and her husband. The horse-drawn vehicle was almost totally wrecked.” [Source: Brownsville herald. (Brownsville, Tex.), 13 Jan. 1930.]
5. Bike Versus Buggy
And finally, there were the bike and buggy crashes that happened while people were out and about and not paying attention. The following happened in 1902.
“A bicycle-buggy collision occurred here tonight at 9 o’clock and as a result a man’s life hangs by a thread. Dr. D.A. Stanton was in his buggy coming in town at a rapid pace, owing to an approaching storm, and Mr. Fidella Barker, superintendent of the Piedmont Table Company, was on his wheel going at a high rate of speed to his home, when the two met near the depot.
“Neither saw each other. Mr. Barker was knocked from his wheel to the roadside in an unconscious condition. At this writing he has rallied, but is in a serious state. One rib is broken and several bad bruises found, and most probably internal injuries have resulted.” [Source: The news & observer. (Raleigh, N.C.), 17 Aug. 1902.]
