closetbiker

Does this exempt bicycles from having the same rights (like, riding on the road) and responsibilities (such as, following the rules of the road) as vehicles now?

Wed, Jan. 25, 2006
Horses and bikes may not be vehicles for long
JENNY MICHAEL
Associated Press

PIERRE, S.D. - Intoxicated South Dakotans should be able to ride horses or bikes home from bars without fear of being arrested for drunken driving, legislators decided Wednesday.

The House Transportation Committee voted 10-1 for a bill to exempt horses and bikes from the statutory definition of vehicles, sending HB1190 to the House floor.

Rep. Tom Hennies, R-Rapid City, said people who have been drinking and choose not to drive cars or trucks should not be punished for using alternate transportation.

"We should not push people to stop driving when they've been drinking, and at the same time penalize them if they get on a bicycle when they're drunk," the former police chief said.

Hennies told of a Pennington County man who was arrested several times for drunken driving, including a fourth arrest while pedaling a bicycle home one night. The man could have been sent to prison if he had been convicted, Hennies said.

"I don't know anybody that had that intent when we're talking about drunk drivers," he said.

A Pierre man was arrested several times in recent years for being drunk on his horse. At one trial, the man said he was upset for getting stopped because he had not been drinking and smelled of alcohol only because he had put liniment on his horse, adding that he wasn't a danger because his horse "knew the way home." He was found innocent that time.

Hennies acknowledged that drunks on bikes and horses can cause problems, but he said it would be better to charge them with disorderly conduct than drunken driving.

The bill would affect more than just drunken driving, Hennies said. He said people on horses and bikes would technically be excluded from other state traffic regulations, such as obeying stop signs, although most city ordinances would still require it.

"You won't have to buy a license plate for your horse, either," Hennies added.

Rep. Gordon Peterson, R-Wall, wondered if the bill signified the official end of the horse and buggy era in South Dakota.

"Cowboys that get drunk on Saturday nights and ride home in small towns won't like this too much," he said. "They won't have their fun with their cops."

noisebeam

In AZ bikes are not vehicles per definition of vehicle in law: https://www.azleg.state.az.us/FormatD...28&DocType=ARS (see #6 and #32 and most important #56)

But there is a law that gives bicycles all the same rights and responsibilities as vehicles: https://www.azleg.state.az.us/FormatD...28&DocType=ARS

Al

eubi

Well, as I read it it still hasn't passed.

But you are right. If this passes it's possible bicycles will no longer be defied as a vehicle. It depends on how the vehicle laws in South Dakota are defined. Now a collection of laws that may have been written with bicycles defined as a vehicle will no longer apply. Lawyers have a field day with this kind of legislation.

California defines what a bicycle is:

231. A bicycle is a device upon which any person may ride, propelled exclusively by human power through a belt, chain, or gears, and having one or more wheels. Persons riding bicycles are subject to the provisions of this code specified in Sections 21200 and 21200.5.

So, if you are drunk, you can ride a horse or bicycle to get home. But if walk, can you be arrested for "Drunk in Public" (with apologies to Ron White)?

LittleBigMan

Perhaps they should write the new law in a way that simply reiterates that horse drawn carriages and bicycles are not motor vehicles, but remain vehicles in a legal sense. From there, they could limit DUI to motor vehicle operation.

joeprim

Thinking about that silly country song with the line "Whisky for my men beer for their horses... " It should not result in a DUI unless the horse is also drunk. -

Joe

* jack *

Same deal in NC.
Bikes, horses, lawnmowers, etc are exempt from DUI 'vehicle' definition, but are still considered 'vehicles' in the general statutes.