While Kansas City Councilwoman Teresa Loar is determined to thwart officials and residents who believe a new single KCI terminal is in the city’s best interest, at least she’s got it right on a smaller matter — that the tradition of horse-drawn carriages on the Country Club Plaza should be halted.
This has been a bad idea from the start — I believe it began in the ’80s — and there have now been at least three accidents involving the carriages.
Loar
The most recent incident, Saturday night, was by far the worst. A horse pulling a carriage with a driver and four passengers began running out of control at 47th and Wornall. The carriage crashed about two blocks south after running into a fence on the Brush Creek bridge. The Star’s story said the driver was ejected and fell over the bridge onto the ground below. One of the passengers suffered a broken arm and required surgery. All four passengers suffered bruises.
The horse, which ended up lying on the sidewalk, was also injured and has been retired from carriage service.
One of the passengers, Rochelle Baldwin, told The Star she called the carriage company, Kansas City Carriages, and left voicemail messages but had not received a return call.
The company returned reporter Lynn Horsley’s call, of course, because a negative story — which ran online today — could significantly impact the business.
The carriage rides have long impeded traffic on the Plaza, and, now, finally, there’s a growing realization that the horses are, indeed, unpredictable animals and not plodding, docile creatures.
Loar, whom Horsley described as “a longtime animal welfare advocate,” said she would push for banning the carriage rides. Horsley said another animal advocate, Councilwoman Jolie Justus, is not a fan of the rides but “wants to hear from all sides on the issue.”
Officials in some cities already have come to their senses. Cities that have banned horse-drawn carriage rides include Las Vegas, Reno, Biloxi and Asheville. Cities that still have them include New York, Philadelphia and Savannah.
**
I witnessed what I believe was the first carriage accident in Kansas City. To the best of my recollection, it happened in the mid- to late 1980s. I was walking along Nichols Road with a date one night and saw a horse bolt while pulling a carriage near what was then the Halls store. The carriage crashed into a car, as I recall, before coming to a halt. No one was injured, and the horse remained upright, but it sure was unsettling. I called The Star and told a reporter what I had seen, and a short story ran the next morning.
The carriage-ride business had another setback in 1996, when two horses collapsed and died from disease. Horsley’s story said the city tightened regulations after that.
A complicating factor back in the 1980s — and maybe into the ’90s — was that there were two competing carriage-ride operators, and one was a close friend of then-Mayor Richard L. Berkley and his wife Sandy. I don’t know what kind of connections the owners of Kansas City Carriages have with the City Council, but momentum seems to be turning against the carriage-ride industry nationally…Let’s hope sound reason prevails in Kansas City and that the Plaza streets will be returned — full time — to motorists.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
I have never had a carriage ride on the Plaza. I never thought they were a problem though. I think they add interest and charm and one accident every decade or two is no reason to ban them. On the other hand there are no doubt numerous accidents and injuries from automobiles on the Plaza. There are rarely, if ever, any stories about them. Why is that?
I vote to ban cars and add more horses.
Patty and I were just talking about traffic on the Plaza, Jim, and she suggests closing at least one major Plaza street — perhaps Nichols Road, in the middle — to vehicular traffic. Makes sense to me.
…But regarding your reasoning about an accident every decade or two, it would take just one death to permanently end the carriage rides. It could have happened the other night; that was a bad wreck.
Here’s a thought. Keep the current terminal system and let the carriages ferry passengers back and forth between the terminals.
About a year of that would change the minds of most people opposed to a new single terminal.
Hi, Jim. Your discussion of the horse rides makes me recall an interview with Miller Nichols, who thought they were a great feature of the Plaza. Miller said he was planning to take the CEO of some chip manufacturer on a carriage ride to entice the guy to move his company to KC. The funny thing was that Miller thought the company was selling “crystals.” Probably he was lost in memories of crystal radios. — Don Hoffmann
I agree with the first comment that banning based on a few incidents over a quarter century is knee-jerk reaction – something we have way too much of these days. So next time a person gets hit walking across the street should we ban pedestrians too?
But your last sentence shows the typical mindset of Kansas Citians – roads are for cars only. This is the same reaction when a bicyclist gets hit (“Why are they on the road…?). Roads are made to transport people and goods – not just using cars and trucks.
Maybe the solution is LESS CARS on the Plaza. Then it would be safer for cyclists, pedestrians and even horses!
I will bet that a lot of marriage proposals have been made on those carriages rides. Just saying.
My Christmas wish is that the horses go to pasture and the cars stay on the streets, unimpeded by horse flesh.
And as for cycling on the streets, it’s always been a risky business. Ban it on the main thoroughfares, I say!
(Give me a few minutes and I’ll come up with a couple of dozen other things that should be banned, too…)