Horse Drawn Carriage Crash in Philly

The latest word is that the 70yr old driver is going to be officially charged. Witnesses say he was driving very aggressively. What a maroon, evil, old, mean, grumpy, impatient maroon.

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3 injured in crash of car, horsecarts

No passengers onboard; horses OK

By STEPHANIE FARR | Philadelphia Daily News | Apr. 20, 2010 | farrs@phillynews.com 215-854-4225

At least three people were injured when modernity and antiquity clashed near Independence Mall yesterday in an accident involving one car and several horse-drawn carriages.

The crash occurred about 9:20 a.m. at 6th and Race streets when a driver plowed into one of three carriages that had stopped at a red light, causing a chain reaction that damaged the two others, police said.

But Michael Kates, director of operations for the 76 Carriage Co., owner of the carriages, said there were actually five carriages stopped together at the light, all of which had left the stables 15 minutes before the accident.

Kates said the drivers of the two carriages at the rear of the line were ejected from their vehicles.

They were taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in serious but stable condition, according to police.

The carriage drivers, one a man in his 50s and the other a woman in her 20s, suffered head and other injuries but are expected to recover, Kates said.

He said there were four employees in the three other carriages; two people were treated and released for their injuries and two did not require medical treatment. There were no passengers on board any of the carriages at the time of the accident.

Of the five horses involved in the crash, none suffered anything more than a few cuts and abrasions, according to Kates.

“They were scared more than anything else,” he said. “The vet came in and all five horses have been medically cleared.”

Following the crash, three of the horses escaped their harnesses and made it about a half-block away before strangers were able to corral them until carriage-company employees could round them up, Kates said.

Three of the carriages were destroyed and a fourth has some minor rear-end damage, Kates said.

“There’s only one way this can happen,” Kates said. “Horses don’t go backwards.

The driver of the car, identified by 6 ABC as Thomas Gordon, 70, of Claymont, Del., had not been arrested as of last night and was not expected to be, pending the results of toxicology reports, police said.

A source said police were looking into whether a medical issue had caused Gordon to crash.

He was transported to Hahnemann University Hospital and was reported to be in stable condition, police said.