Vienna horse carriage driver charged for being drunk

You don’t here often about those charged with DUI when taking tourists around on horse-drawn carriage rides.

But in Vienna this week that’s just what happened. A carriage — or Fiaker, in local dialect — driver was nailed for being drunk. How? Police gave him a breath test after his horses broke away from him and took a 39-year-old tourist and her two children on a wild ride through the Austrian capital.

The driver was just opening the carriage door to let his guests out when the horses broke free.

The Associated Press is reporting that the horses then preceded to run from Vienna’s Third District over a bridge above the Danube into the city’s Second District. In the process, the carriage hit two cars, which broke the horses loose. The horses continued running, while the carriage hit a third car and came to a rest.

The tourist and her children were uninjured in the incident. Police say the driver did not take proper precautions securing his horses.