Despite the occasional buggy-on-car accident, most Amish remain totally opposed to modern safety equipment like headlights, taillights, brakes, seatbelts or even, in Kentucky at least, orange safety triangles.
According to the Detroit Free Press, the ubiquitous neon-orange triangles seen on everything from wide loads to cement mixers are apparently too high-tech for Amish horse-drawn buggies. First, the objectors say the orange is way too bright and clashes with their buggies' blacked-out color scheme. Second, the Amish say the three-sided shape can represent the Holy Trinity and shouldn't be used for something as worldly as a cheap, plastic warning device.
One Amish man recently spent 13 days in a county jail after refusing to pay a fine for not having the triangle on his buggy. The American Civil Liberties Union has stepped in to defend the man in Kentucky Supreme Court on religious grounds. The Amish hope the court will vacate the charges and open up a dialogue into less-offensive alternatives to the offending placards.
According to the Detroit Free Press, the ubiquitous neon-orange triangles seen on everything from wide loads to cement mixers are apparently too high-tech for Amish horse-drawn buggies. First, the objectors say the orange is way too bright and clashes with their buggies' blacked-out color scheme. Second, the Amish say the three-sided shape can represent the Holy Trinity and shouldn't be used for something as worldly as a cheap, plastic warning device.
One Amish man recently spent 13 days in a county jail after refusing to pay a fine for not having the triangle on his buggy. The American Civil Liberties Union has stepped in to defend the man in Kentucky Supreme Court on religious grounds. The Amish hope the court will vacate the charges and open up a dialogue into less-offensive alternatives to the offending placards.
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