Drunk Cycling in Ohio

[Daily Commute]

A DUI lawyer told me yesterday that as of September of last year, Ohio's DUI law no longer applies to cyclists. I asked if that meant I could ride home drunk, and he gave a very lawyerly response, something like, "You won't be convicted of a state OVI violation if you drive home drunk." I assume that means that there are other ways they can nail us, maybe local DUI laws or some kind of recklessness charge.

I think this is probably good policy. DUI penalties are so severe mainly because car drivers control 3000 lb missles, and drunk cyclists don't kill thousands a year. But it's also a good idea that there are less severe laws that can be used against cyclists. We may not kill thousands a year, but we can still hurt people, including ourselves.

Personally, I won't ride if I've had any alcohol. It's just not worth the safety risk to myself.

(EDIT--WARNING TO IDIOTS THINKING OF TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THIS: SEE MERRIWETHER'S POSTS BELOW. THIS LAWYER, AND THE JUDGE I SPOKE WITH MIGHT BE WRONG.)

[wahoonc]

I would suspect you could be charged under the Public Intoxication laws. I have no clue what the law in Ohio is, but in NC if all else fails you an be charged with being drunk in a public location. I had a buddy that was driving drunk, car ran out of gas...and was arrested while staggering down the road.:rolleyes: Better than a DUI I guess. I don't recall the penalty, but I am sure it doesn't go against your license.

Aaron:)

[catatonic]

PI as far as I know, does not count against your license since a motor vehicle is not involved at that specific point in time.

PI laws are more or less to keep those who are stupid drunk from harming themselves or being a nuisance to others.

[pj7]

When I go out drinking, I am not even capable of iding a bike afterwards! :D

[pedex]

PM me with that attorney's name please, Id like to chat with him

I will be looking for the change in the ORC too.

AFAIK if no other moving violation was involved like in my case then the state laws as far as license suspension do not apply, but you have to get a court order after the arrest and trial to get the state to reinstate your license without serving the suspension time and paying the $400 fee.

even if the law change is true, you can still be charged with drunk and disorderly, public intoxication, possibly wreckless op, and/or still have your bike impounded

columbus city law gives the officer's the option of impounding your bike for ANY traffic violation

[genec]

In CA it is still a DUI... so I become a sidewalk rider after a beer or two.

[webist]

If you pass out while driving, your car (horse, boat or motorhome) keeps moving under its own power. When you pass out while cycling, you tip over.

[Merriwether]

What you pass on is very interesting, DC. It would be good to have any further links or information, if there is any such.

A DUI lawyer ought to know, but checking online it seems to me that DUI-bicycle is, even still, the same crime as DUI-automobile in Ohio. The relevant section of Ohio Traffic Code is 4511.19. That section specifies that operating a vehicle-- and not necessarily a motor vehicle-- under the influence of alcohol (or drugs now) is a crime. In Ohio, bicycles count as vehicles. The positive characterization of bicycles as vehicles in Ohio comes, as I read from various DUI attorney sites, from court cases and not from Ohio Code explicitly.

The explicit definition of "vehicle" in the Ohio Code itself is more complicated. At section 4511.01, a "vehicle" is said explicitly to exclude any device powered solely by human power, *except* for bicycles. That is, bicycles are explicitly and specifically exempted from the human-powered disqualification from a device counting as a vehicle. While the bicycle exemption by itself does not imply that bicycles are vehicles, it comes close. At least, it suggests that the Ohio Code anticipates that bicycles count as vehicles. And, again, lawyers practicing in DUI in Ohio with web presences all seem to claim that bicycles count as vehicles in Ohio, though in virtue of various court rulings and not through the Code itself.

(At 4511.01, "bicycle" is also defined. There is an interesting exception to the bicycle definition: tadpole tricycles. Only tricycles with one wheel in front and two in the rear are bicycles in Ohio! If you're going to drink and ride, take your tadpole.)

Bicycle law changed for the better in Ohio back in September, 2006. Cyclists owe a significant debt to the Ohio Bicycle Federation who worked hard for these changes, by the way.

Among the changes was the provision that traffic offenses on a bicycle would not count toward administrative suspension or revocation of one's driver's license. That is, one does not accrue points against a license in Ohio for bicycle traffic offense. (See 4511.52) However, there is one explicit exception to this change mentioned at 4511.52: operating a bicycle while intoxicated, the offense at 4511.19. So, even the recent changes of September 2006 specifically exempt DUI-bicycle convictions from the non-points-accruing provisions of 4511.52. Why would 4511.52 explictly exclude DUI-bicycle convictions from no points accruing on one's license if DUI-bicycle weren't a legal possibility in Ohio?

Again, I am talking about the language of the recent changes. So, it seems to me that DUI-bicycle still exists in Ohio.

Pedex, do I understand your post to imply that you were charged with DUI-bicycle in Ohio? Would you mind elaborating? I can understand if you'd rather not, of course, but it might be interesting in revealing just what is going on with Ohio law these days.

[Daily Commute]

I don't see this attorney all that often, and he didn't give me the OK to give out his name. I don't have the time to wade through the laws right now, but anyone who wants to can find them all here. (http://onlinedocs.andersonpublishing.com/oh/lpExt.dll?f=templates&fn=main-h.htm&cp=PORC)

[Daily Commute]

I asked a municipal court judge (the kind of judge who would hear most drunk driving cases), and he confirmed that cyclists could no longer be found guilty of state OVI charges. So I did some digging. You should be able to find everything here.http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/4511

HB389, effective last September, added paragraphs (B)(C) & (D) to section 4511.52:


(A) Sections 4511.01 to 4511.78, 4511.99, and 4513.01 to 4513.37, of the Revised Code that are applicable to bicycles apply whenever a bicycle is operated upon any highway or upon any path set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles.

(B) Except as provided in division (D) of this section, a bicycle operator who violates any section of the Revised Code described in division (A) of this section that is applicable to bicycles may be issued a ticket, citation, or summons by a law enforcement officer for the violation in the same manner as the operator of a motor vehicle would be cited for the same violation. A person who commits any such violation while operating a bicycle shall not have any points assessed against the person's driver's license, commercial driver's license, temporary instruction permit, or probationary license under section 4510.036 of the Revised Code.

(C) Except as provided in division (D) of this section, in the case of a violation of any section of the Revised Code described in division (A) of this section by a bicycle operator or by a motor vehicle operator when the trier of fact finds that the violation by the motor vehicle operator endangered the lives of bicycle riders at the time of the violation, the court, notwithstanding any provision of the Revised Code to the contrary, may require the bicycle operator or motor vehicle operator to take and successfully complete a bicycling skills course approved by the court in addition to or in lieu of any penalty otherwise prescribed by the Revised Code for that violation.

(D) Divisions (B) and (C) of this section do not apply to violations of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code.
Section 4511.19 is the drunk driving section. So the lawyer and the judge were right--cyclists can no longer be found guilty of state drunk driving charges. But both made it clear that there were plenty of other things drunk cyclists could be charged with.

In CA it is still a DUI... so I become a sidewalk rider after a beer or two.
That might not work. I'm told that under pre-September 2006 law in Ohio, you could be convicted of drunk cycling anywhere, even your basement. So I wouldn't think that riding on the sidewalk would do you any good.

[bragi]

Forgive me for being a contrarian, but I think drunk bicyclists should be subject to drunk driving laws. It may not be as dangerous to others as driving a car while drunk, but it's still dangerous, especailly for pedestrians. Besides, if we expect to have the same rights to the road as motorists, we should expect the same or similar consequences. Maybe there should be a penalty for drunk cycling that isn't as severe as for drunk driving. But I think it sets a worrisome precedent to treat drunk cyclists as if they're not actual operators of vehicles.

[sggoodri]

North Carolina just changed its law so DUI does apply to cyclists now. It did not before this year.

However, it is still legal to ride a horse here while under the influence, as long as the horse is sober.

[Daily Commute]

bragi,

I generally agree with you--drunk cyclists should be held responsible, but with less severe penalties than drunk drivers. I think that's basically what Ohio has done. Both the judge and the lawyer I spoke with made it clear that there were plenty of other things other than state OVI laws that drunk cyclists could be charged with (including local misdemeaner OVI many places).

Drunk driving penalties are really, really severe for good reason. Thousands of people die from drunk drivers every year. We cyclists are mainly a danger only to ourselves. After a few offenses, drunk drivers in Ohio face felony charges and mandaory prison time. They face mandatory local jail time after the first or second offense. That makes sense for people who get in a 3000 lbs missle without being able to control it. It makes less sense for someone on a 20lb bike.

And as I said in the OP, it's just stupid to ride drunk. I won't ride after even one drink.

[Merriwether]

Thanks again, DC, for passing on the judge's comments and for some quotations of the Code.

I did see these changes when I posted earlier, but I understood them differently. I am more curious now in light of what you said the judge said. I'll say a few things about why.

Here, again, are the relevant passages in the Ohio Code, at 4511.52:




(A) Sections 4511.01 to 4511.78, 4511.99, and 4513.01 to 4513.37, of the Revised Code that are applicable to bicycles apply whenever a bicycle is operated upon any highway or upon any path set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles.

(B) Except as provided in division (D) of this section, a bicycle operator who violates any section of the Revised Code described in division (A) of this section that is applicable to bicycles may be issued a ticket, citation, or summons by a law enforcement officer for the violation in the same manner as the operator of a motor vehicle would be cited for the same violation. A person who commits any such violation while operating a bicycle shall not have any points assessed against the person's driver's license, commercial driver's license, temporary instruction permit, or probationary license under section 4510.036 of the Revised Code.

(C) Except as provided in division (D) of this section, in the case of a violation of any section of the Revised Code described in division (A) of this section by a bicycle operator or by a motor vehicle operator when the trier of fact finds that the violation by the motor vehicle operator endangered the lives of bicycle riders at the time of the violation, the court, notwithstanding any provision of the Revised Code to the contrary, may require the bicycle operator or motor vehicle operator to take and successfully complete a bicycling skills course approved by the court in addition to or in lieu of any penalty otherwise prescribed by the Revised Code for that violation.

(D) Divisions (B) and (C) of this section do not apply to violations of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code.




Notice that (A) says that 4511.19, the DUI provision, applies to bikes. And even section (D) doesn't say that section (A) does not apply to 4511.19.

A suspicious fact is that if the legislature had wanted to exempt bicycles from the DUI offense, 4511.19, they could have done so straightforwardly by excepting 4511.19 in section (A), or listing section (A), too, in section (D). But they did neither of these things.

Further, section (D) refers to *violations* of section 4511.19. So even (D) seems to imply that there are bicycle violations of 4511.19. (If "violations" did not include bicycle violations of 4511.19 there would be no point in offering section (D) at all.)

All of these features of the quoted sections lead me to believe that DUI-bicycle is still an offense in Ohio, your judge acquaintance's remarks notwithstanding.

I take that you read the conjunction of the 1st sentence of (B) and (D) as implying that a police officer may *not* issue a ticket, citation, or summons to a DUI-bicyclist in the same manner as he would do to a motor vehicle driver. But one need not read things that way. As long as there is any other provision in the Ohio Code for a police officer to enforce 4511.19 against bicyclists, section (D) above does not imply that officers may not enforce 4511.19 against bicyclists. After all, (D) says only that (B) and (C) do not apply to violations of 4511.19. It does not say that officers may not enforce 4511.19 against bicyclists.

One can find an alternative basis for officers having the powers to enforce 4511.19 against cyclists, in the general enumeration of the powers of police officers, wherever that is in the Ohio Code, and in the detailing of the offense in 4511.19. (B) is not necessary for this power to enforce 4511.19 to be in effect.

So, an alternative view of the point of sections (B) - (D) above is that they are establishing that there are no points on one's license for bicycling traffice offenses, *except* in the case of bicycle DUI (when there would be points assessed against a license.)

So, while I’m hesitant to disagree with a judge (!) on this issue, I want to look into it a bit more before I agree with your acquaintance. Thanks again, though, for passing on his comments.

[noisebeam]

I came across this City of Tempe City Council Issue Review Meeting Minutes.
Focus was on what is a bicycle vs. a motorised play vehicle.
http://www.tempe.gov/clerk/history_03/20070201clrkck01.pdf

What I found curious was this statement by Sgt. Bulson:
"Sgt. Bulson stated that from the police perspective, people utilize these vehicles to get to the downtown area. They also utilize them when they come downtown to drink. Now we are potentially in a situation where there are intoxicated people on these devices, but are they DUI’s or not? We don’t have DUI’s on bicycles."

I never was aware of any state or city law that said that you can't get DUI on a bicycle.

Al

[Daily Commute]

Merriwether,
I see your point. Your reading makes more sense than what the judge or lawyer said. I wonder if some bigwig in drunk driving law misread the statute, told a bunch of people, and now people are doing what the bigwig said instead of reading the words the legislature wrote.

[Merriwether]

Merriwether,
I see your point. Your reading makes more sense than what the judge or lawyer said. I wonder if some bigwig in drunk driving law misread the statute, told a bunch of people, and now people are doing what the bigwig said instead of reading the words the legislature wrote.

DC, I wondered too about a possibility along those lines, too... It would be too bad if there were misunderstanding about this question among officials, because given the severe OVI penalties someone could get badly hurt by bad information.

We've been talking about just one change in the law, though, and speaking for myself I'm not confident I know exactly what the situation is overall. I have some friends in the legal field, too, so if I hear anything more informative I'll send it along.

In any case, your advice to stay away from intoxicated operation sounds very good.

[Artkansas]

When I go out drinking, I am not even capable of iding a bike afterwards! :D

I used to have a dutch Pegasus 10 speed that had such an immense rake in the front fork that it could go straight no matter how much I had to drink.