JERUSALEM, N.Y. — Seven people, including a 7-month-old child, were injured Sunday afternoon after a car struck a horse-drawn carriage transporting a Mennonite family in New York, authorities confirmed.
Yates County Sheriff Ron Spike told WHAM that the crash occurred around 5:15 p.m. when driver Justin Niver, 24, attempted unsuccessfully to pass the buggy driven by Matthew Sensenig, 33, as the carriage crested a hill.
An oncoming vehicle forced Niver to swerve back into the westbound lane and strike Sensenig’s buggy, and the force of the crash threw all seven members of the family into a nearby ditch and field, deputies told the TV station.
Three other young boys in the family sustained unknown injuries, and a local veterinarian euthanized the horse at the scene, the newspaper reported.
Sensenig and his wife reportedly sustained head injuries, their 7-year-old son sustained multiple critical injuries and their 7-month-old sustained internal injuries, but all four were stabilized at Strong Memorial Hospital with improved conditions by Sunday night, the Star-Gazette reported.
The sheriff told WHAM that Niver, who was not injured, was not impaired and cooperated with officials. Charges are pending against him.