Last summer I started seeing something new on the local
roads: Amish people riding bicycles were
wearing reflective safety vests.
Although regular bicycles are not allowed in some Amish
communities (such as Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where a scooter-type push
bike is used instead), they are very popular in Amish Indiana. Even older citizens can often be seen riding
them, and the buggy lanes along the sides of the main roads make it safer than
it sounds. For short hops, a bicycle is
more convenient than hitching up a horse and buggy!
Change is slow and rare in the Amish community, and it
always piques my curiosity—so I asked my friend Ruth about them. She said that the vests are becoming more and
more common in the Shipshewana area.
Many of the older church members were hesitant—but the local authorities
had a plan. They went into the local
Amish schools and talked about the vests, and even passed some out to the
kids. Naturally, the kids went home and
spread the word to their parents and grandparents.
It’s a good safety feature, and when my two new stainless
steel knees heal up this spring, I plan to use a safety vest myself, when
riding on the streets.
(Shipshewana/Middlebury also has an excellent seven-mile bike trail,
which I’ve written about previously.) It
just seems like the smart thing to do.
