But Officer, These Horses Are Totally Sober!

The Amish eschew many modern technological innovations in order to live more simple, contemplative lives. But according to this story out of western New York there's one scourge of the modern world that even voluntary simplicity seems powerless to eliminate - underage drinking and driving. In this case, a fleeing buggy even collided with a police car. If you think that sounds suspiciously modern, well, you're not alone.

The Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office tells media outlets that the crash occurred around 7:15 p.m. Sunday in the rural town of Sherman, near the Pennsylvania border in New York's southwest corner.

Officials say deputies were responding to reports that people were drinking in several Amish buggies on a country road. As a patrol car arrived on the scene, one of the Amish buggies changed lanes, colliding with the police vehicle. The buggy flipped onto its side, causing minor injuries to one of the people on board.

Police say several other buggies fled the scene.

The Amish way of life can be thanked for one aspect of this incident - buggies aren't nearly as fast as cars, so the drivers involved in the collision sustained only minor injuries. At freeway speeds, they might very well be dead. But at the same time, most of the kids I knew who drank a lot in college came from small towns where there was little else to do during their teen years. I know that I would have been frustrated growing in an Amish community, since I have little aptitude for physical labor and I've been programming computers since I was eight.

Still, I suppose I could have become a writer anyway. Pen and paper is pretty low-tech.