This may have to do with teenage angst or possibly part of an Amish tradition but none the less it is hilarious. A Pennsylvania Amish 18-year-old has been charged with a DUI after being pulled over while driving his horse-drawn buggy while drunk. He also has four passengers who were charged with underage drinking.
According to The Daily Caller,
A teenager was formally charged with multiple counts of driving under the influence, including driving his horse-drawn buggy while intoxicated.
Robert Miller, 18, a Pennsylvania Amish teenager from the home of everyone’s favorite groundhog — Punxsutawney — was originally pulled over for the infraction July 8 in Canoe Township, and was officially charged Wednesday, The Daily Mail reported Thursday.
Miller was also charged with a second count of “being incapable of safely operating a vehicle while under the influence,” careless driving, underage possession of alcohol, and a violation of the open container in a vehicle law, Corporal Adam Reed, Coordinator of the Public Information Office for the Pennsylvania State Police, told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
Miller’s four passengers, Andrew Coblentz and Raymond Kurtz, both 20 year olds, William Byler, 18, and an unnamed 16 year-old, were also charged with underage drinking.
The police said they initially pulled Miller over because they saw two of his friends surfing atop the buggy at 11 p.m., a dead give-away.
The reason for the more than month-long delay in filing official charges was due to the fact that it can take several weeks for blood test results to come back from the lab, Reed said.
The legal limit for blood alcohol content in Pennsylvania is .08 percent, but for minors the limit is .02 percent. The police were unable to tell TheDCNF what Miller’s actual blood alcohol content was.
There is something called “Rumspringa,” which translates to running around, that Amish teens undertake after turning 16 years-old. During Rumspringa, they are allowed to “bend and break” the rules of the Ordnung, which is an Amish guideline “for daily living,” which could be an explanation for the drunk buggy ride and surf, although Pennsylvania State Police were unable to confirm that with TheDCNF.
These teens were breaking so many laws they are lucky they aren’t in jail. The only part that seems a little harsh is the actual DUI because it was only a horse and buggy. While this may be part of the tradition called “Rumspringa” where teens are allowed to go nuts when they turn 16, the driver was 18! Does this “running around” make what these boys were doing ok or was it right for them to be punished? What do you think about this Amish guideline?