MANDATA - Five people, including an Amish family of four, escaped injury Tuesday morning in a collision of a car and horse-drawn buggy on Route 225 between Mandata and Pillow.
State police at Stonington said the accident occurred when Carol A. Rickert, 45, of Herndon, who was driving a late-model car, attempted to drive around the buggy, while both vehicles were traveling south on Route 225.
Police said the right front of the car hit the left rear wheel of the buggy in which Elizabeth Kauffman, of Herndon RD, and her three children, ages 5, 3 and 1, were passengers. The impact caused the wheel's spokes to shatter and the buggy's left rear section dropped to the pavement. Neither the occupants nor the horse was injured.
Kauffman said she was en route to a store in Pillow to deliver home-baked goods when the accident occurred. The Kauffman family resides in an area near Red Cross and uses a horse-drawn buggy exclusively for transportation.
Firefighters and ambulance attendants from Pillow and Dalmatia responded to the scene and assisted the occupants. They unhitched the horse and tied it to a utility pole a short distance from the highway.
Kauffman's husband and other relatives also arrived to provide assistance.
Police said the buggy had to be towed. The car had damage to the right front headlight and did not require towing.