Woman Killed, Run Over By Horse-Drawn Carriage On Mackinac Island

MACKINAC ISLAND (WWJ) – A Texas woman is dead after she was run over by a horse-drawn carriage on Mackinac Island.

According to Mackinac Island Police, 79-year old Gail Johnson of Llano, Texas, was riding a bike on Main Street, M-185, near the Mackinac Public Library when she somehow lost control.

Police said that’s when Johnson fell under a moving horse-drawn carriage and was run over.

She was taken by EMS to the Mackinac Island Medical Center where she was pronounced dead a short time later.

The carriage, which was headed eastbound on Main at the time of the accident, was driven by a 23-year-old Mason, Michigan man for the company Carriae Tours of Mackinac Island. He was unhurt.

It happened at around 5:20 p.m. on Tuesday.

Police said they are not sure at this time if Johnson may have suffered from a medical problem prior to the incident or why she fell off the bike.

An autopsy is being conducted in Grand Rapids.

Horse-drawn buggies are common on Mackinac, where almost all motor vehicles have been banned since 1898. M-185 is the only interstate in the U.S. to ban cars.