Drunk Driving Is Now Could Be Legal In Parts Of Ireland Because ...

You guys know what's great? Driving! You know what else is great? Drinking! But they should never be done together. That's just dangerous, irresponsible, and also illegal.

Unless you live in County Kerry, Ireland, where the county's council this week voted to allow rural drivers to legally operate vehicles under the influence of alcohol, ABC News reports. We all know the Irish put everyone else in the world to shame with their partying skills, but this is a new high. Or low, depending on your perspective.

ABC News says that the council voted 5-3 with 12 absent and 7 abstaining (side note: Twelve council members didn't show up and seven others abstained from voting? What the fuck kind of local government is this?) to issue permits that allow people to consume two or three drinks and still drive home, if they live in rural areas and take country roads home. The country's Justice Minister will have to implement the changes.

The bill was introduced by a council member who also owns a pub and argued that intoxicated drivers in rural areas have never killed anyone. (What about themselves, though?) Another added benefit, he argues, is that people out in the country will be less lonely this way. Awwww. Here's what he told an Irish newspaper:

"A lot of these people are living in isolated rural areas where there's no public transport of any kind, and they end up at home looking at the four walls, night in and night out, because they don't want to take the risk of losing their license," Healy-Rae told TheJournal.ie.

Maybe this makes me a prudish, Puritanical American, but I think this has bad idea written all over it. I wouldn't want to be out on those roads if I knew intoxicated people were driving on them with no consequences. Also, the ABC story notes that tougher drunk driving laws in Ireland have actually cut down the number of traffic fatalities by 56 percent in recent years.

Oh well. As long as people aren't lonely, I guess drunk driving is okay.

UPDATE: As many commenters point out, the law still has to be approved/created by a justice minister who will of course not approve it.

Photo credit Shutterstock

Source: http://jalopnik.com/5978388/drunk-driving-is-now-legal-in-parts-of-ireland-because-irish-country-people-are-lonely

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