Car Hits Horse-Drawn Carriage in Virginia

[link to hisz.rsoe.hu]


Fourteen people out singing Christmas carols were taken to hospital after their horse-drawn wagon was rear-ended by a car in Virginia. The wagon, which was decorated for Christmas and carrying about 20 people, was struck in the township of Stanley about 8pm. Officer BC Brown told Horsetalk the 23-year-old male car driver struck the wagon from behind. "It did not overturn but the impact knocked the operator off and the horse-drawn carriage was then unmanned," Brown said. The horses were also startled by the impact and took off.


About 100 metres later the wagon struck a utility pole, which resulted in the horses breaking free from their harness. They were recovered later. In all, 14 people suffered injuries requiring hospital treatment. Brown said he yet to see a full list of injuries, but understood none was life-threatening. He knew of one broken leg and possibly several broken ribs.


The car driver has been charged with reckless driving. Brown said the group had been out singing carols, in an effort supported by the local Seventh Day Adventist Church, in a wagon decorated specially for the occasion. Stanley is a small town in West Virginia, north of Charlottesville.