"Dude: Take your ass back to
Hazzard County"
17.02.11
by Linda McGrory
SENSATIONAL footage of a taxi demolishing a phone
box in Buncrana has gone viral after being reviewed
by a YouTube superstar with nearly three million
followers.
The clip - and Buncrana's Main Street - has now been
seen by 2.5 million viewers since Ray
William Johnson posted it on his popular online
channel earlier this week.
It barely had 20,000 hits before InishowenNews.com
first featured the footage two weeks ago. This soon
spiralled to well over 100,000 hits. But the clip
has now well and truly gone global among YouTube's
audience of millions.
New York comedian Johnson is the second biggest
YouTube tracker with more than 2.7 million
subscribers.
He reviews videos from around the world on his
Equals Three channel, adding his trademark comic
commentary.
In the case of the
Buncrana clip, Johnson indulges in some heavy
stereotyping about the Irish and alcohol.
As it happens, the 35 year old driver of the vehicle
was twice the legal alcohol limit when the accident
occurred on April 20, 2009. He pleaded guilty to the
offence at Buncrana District Court that May and was
disqualified from driving for three years. He also
received a 300 euro fine. He had no previous
convictions.
Johnson mistakenly thinks the dramatic footage was
taken in Northern Ireland rather than the Republic
but the US star's intervention means the Derry-born
drunk driver who demolished one of Buncrana's last
remaining phone boxes is not likely to forget the
escapade any time soon.
Johnson quips: "Is it just me, or is this taxi
driver having a hell of a time parking his car? This
ain't Mario Kart dude. You better take your ass back
to Hazzard County!"
