Rear End Collision with Horse Drawn Buggy In Kalona, What is the SMV Symbol?

Four people riding in a horse-drawn buggy were injured when a car struck it from the rear. The collision location is west of Kalona in southeast Iowa on Iowa's Highway 22. The horse buggy operator was a 29-year-old and the car a 21-year-old from the area. The buggy had two passengers who were taken to the university hospital in Iowa City. I wonder if the buggy was displaying the slow moving vehicle symbol or if the young driver of the car understood what that meant? I ask that question because apparently many people don't recognize it and what it's supposed to symbolize to oncoming traffic. In an attempt to educate the driving public in Pennsylvania Farm Bureau publishes a brochure in Pennsylvania displaying the SMV symbols. Rural Roads Safety brochure you can find on our site by following the linked text.

Injured buggy passengers include two 21, a 29 and one 18 year-old. Trooper Wester describes the summary as follows: UNIT 1 (BUGGY) WAS WB ON HWY 22, UNIT 2 WAS WB ON HWY 22 BEHIND. The date is July 4, 2010 and the time 10:22 p.m. on Highway 22 approximately 1 mile west of Kalona. Those injured include Ada Kauffman, Joanne Kauffman, Verda Miller and the car driver Nicole Cady. Washington County, Iowa.

Did you know that each year over 30,000 crashes involve SMV's? Phillip Garvey did some research at Penn State University's Transportation Institute conducted a survey and found that only 30 percent could correctly identify the symbol. This may actually be the problem. It will be interesting to see if the Trooper or Sheriff's deputy's investigation uncovers this fact.

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The SMV sign is for vehicles using the road and traveling 25 mph or less. The Department of Labor through OSHA describes it as follows.

1910.145(d)(10) - Slow-moving vehicle emblem. This emblem (see fig. J-7) consists of a fluorescent yellow-orange triangle with a dark red reflective border. The yellow-orange fluorescent triangle is a highly visible color for daylight exposure. The reflective border defines the shape of the fluorescent color in daylight and creates a hollow red triangle in the path of motor vehicle headlights at night. The emblem is intended as a unique identification for, and it shall be used only on, vehicles which by design move slowly (25 m.p.h. or less) on the public roads. The emblem is not a clearance marker for wide machinery nor is it intended to replace required lighting or marking of slow-moving vehicles. Neither the color film pattern and its dimensions nor the backing shall be altered to permit use of advertising or other markings. The material, location, mounting, etc., of the emblem shall be in accordance with the American Society of Agricultural Engineers Emblem for Identifying Slow-Moving Vehicles, ASAE R276, 1967, or ASAE S276.2 (ANSI B114.1-1971), which are incorporated by reference as specified in Sec. 1910.6.