Living Car Free - Drunk Biking

One thing about car free is when I have a few after work I don't worry about
the sobriety checkpoints. I just wave as I pedal past the cops giving the breathalyzer tests.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/study-links-alcohol-and-bike-deaths/?hp

:thumb: I, also.

One thing about car free is when I have a few after work I don't worry about
the sobriety checkpoints. I just wave as I pedal past the cops giving the breathalyzer tests.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/study-links-alcohol-and-bike-deaths/?hp

This study, which indicated that a detectable amount of alcohol was found in 21% of bicyclists involved in fatal accidents, would have more significance if there was some mention made of what percentage of all adults, or even NYC adult bicyclists who haven't been in fatal accidents, have some unspecified amount of alcohol in them during their waking hours.

The article was clear to indicate that the study drew no conclusion if the bicyclists' alcohol levels had any bearing on their accidents.

This study, which indicated that a detectable amount of alcohol was found in 21% of bicyclists involved in fatal accidents, would have more significance if there was some mention made of what percentage of all adults, or even NYC adult bicyclists who haven't been in fatal accidents, have some unspecified amount of alcohol in them during their waking hours.

The article was clear to indicate that the study drew no conclusion if the bicyclists' alcohol levels had any bearing on their accidents.

The article seems to prove that there's a lot of alcohol around.

However, I draw my own conclusions and try to avoid any alcohol when cycling.

I admit that I have ridden my bike after having a few drinks. I NEVER ride if I suspect that I would be over the legal limit to drive a car. Exercise has also been proven to help sober you up, not that I count on that effect. When I have been drinking and I need to get home WITH my bike for whatever reason I will always take the longer safer way home using MUPs or sidwalks. Usually if I have been drinking then its at nigth so the sidewalks are empty anyways and I ride very slow and double check when crossing streets. Be safe out here!

Guilty. Though I find biking and drinking seems to lower my tolerance.

I know people who have gotten dui's riding their bike.

Riding while drunk, if not totally impossible, is, at the very least, difficult and really inconvenient, and possibly very dangerous. The only upside, really, is that if you ride drunk, you might kill yourself, but probably not anyone else. Driving a car drunk is another matter.

That said, I admit I often frequent pubs by bike, mostly because, being car-free, there's no other way; it's also more fun that way. The trick is to stop before you're too impaired to ride effectively. For me, that's two beers, maybe three if I eat a lot at the same time.

A previous poster mentioned that riding sobers you up. I beg to differ. I don't allow this to happen to myself any more, but when I was younger, I noticed that when I drank a bit too much, but was not yet legally drunk, and got on the bike and hammered away, by the time I got home I was hammered, too. I think this happens because when you exert yourself you metabolize more alcohol more quickly, and it literally goes to your head.

I know people who have gotten dui's riding their bike.


Riding while drunk, if not totally impossible, is, at the very least, difficult and really inconvenient, and possibly very dangerous. The only upside, really, is that if you ride drunk, you might kill yourself, but probably not anyone else. Driving a car drunk is another matter.

I will point out again that the article cited by the OP never claimed nor even hinted that any of the fatally injured cyclists were riding while drunk.

I don't drink. I did have a friend lose a few teeth and get some stitches after running into a parked car while biking drunk

I will point out again that the article cited by the OP never claimed nor even hinted that any of the fatally injured cyclists were riding while drunk.

So why quote my statement? Your statement has zero relevance to mine.

I will point out again that the article cited by the OP never claimed nor even hinted that any of the fatally injured cyclists were riding while drunk.

I wasn't referring to the article. In my own experience, I discovered that, while riding drunk, I tended to fall down and run into things. Over time, I decided that I didn't really enjoy such experiences, and concluded that more moderate drinking was just as enjoyable and much more compatible with safe riding. The number of NYC cyclists who died with alcohol in their blood is not relevant to what I was saying.

BTW, the number of NYC cyclists who die in accidents seems kind of alarming to me. What's the deal with NYC?

BTW, the number of NYC cyclists who die in accidents seems kind of alarming to me. What's the deal with NYC?


The study was based on "225 bicyclists who died in fatal accidents during the 10-year time period, only 176 were tested for alcohol." So in a city with a population approaching 9 million, with an estimated 120,000 cyclists, an average of 25 die each year in cycling accidents.

More interesting is that other studies based on the same data have shown that more than 95% of these cyclists were male and riding without a helmet.

So why quote my statement? Your statement has zero relevance to mine.

Because some posters have a Pavlovian response to the word "alcohol" in a message, thread or article, no matter what the context, and immediately start posting the usual blah-blah about the evils of being drunk, dui's, and the effects of intoxication.

People killed by drunk drivers in 2006: 13,491
People killed by drunk cyclists in 2006: 0
People killed by drunk drivers in 2007: 12,998
People killed by drunk cyclists in 2007: 0


Some numbers from the "comments" section...

In my own experience, I discovered that, while riding drunk, I tended to fall down and run into things. Over time, I decided that I didn't really enjoy such experiences, and concluded that more moderate drinking was just as enjoyable and much more compatible with safe riding.

Wow. When I was younger I would drink and get on the bike and get all excited at how cool it is to blow past cars and ride too fast for the conditions. The next day I'd reflect on how stupid that was. But I never drank and biked where I'd fall down and run into things. If you fall down its some feedback to keep you in line. If you've just had a few and you feel in control and strong and fast you start riding like some crazy messenger but without the skill. Am I the only one who has felt a burst of joyous biking energy while riding home after a few drinks with friends? It seems dangerous because I'd be riding much faster than normal and cutting things closer than normal yet the alcohol makes a persons reflexes slower than normal. At least we aren't driving a ton of steel when we pull a dumb move.

Last time I rode under the influence was the night before Inauguration. The traffic was bad so it was fun to ride past the cars. I had a few extra drinks because I had to get up the next morning to work the bike valet.

I used to ride pissed all the time. So far I have ended up in the hospital for 5 weeks, trashed many a rim, and hooked a parked cars mirror with my bull horn injuring myself. Probably taken 20 years off my life, now I'll only live 'till 280.

Thank god I am a quick learner, after 20 years of drunken biking I only do it occasionally now.

Can't find the link at the moment, it was on BBC. But in Poland you get hard time for riding a bike while drunk. Average sentence is about a year, seems their version of the DA convinced the judges that drunk cyclists deserved the same penalties as drunk drivers, rather than being treated like a normal public intoxication.

Aaron:)

Riding a bike drunk is great. One time I did fall when I crossed the street and turned sharply onto a campus sidewalk. Luckily it was 5am in the winter so I was fully padded and no one saw me :)

Then riding back from a party I passed a cop, going the opposite way, and being sorta paranoid I turned off into some alleys on the way back home in case the cop decided to turn around and follow me.

I don't think I've rode a bike when really drunk, mostly sorta buzzed/tipsy, then again I don't get really drunk very often.

link to the article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7994857.stm) about cycling and drinking in Poland...

What's going on in France (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6005270.ece)...

I know people who have gotten dui's riding their bike.

lol. Yeah, you have to watch out where you bui. Davis CA hands out bui tickets like mad, and that goes on your driving record as a DUI!!!

(not that I have personal experience with this...)

Yeah Davis is well know for it.

lol. Yeah, you have to watch out where you bui. Davis CA hands out bui tickets like mad, and that goes on your driving record as a DUI!!!

(not that I have personal experience with this...)

Years ago when I lived in West Palm Beach Florida I did my fair share of biking under the influence as well as biking DRUNK. Luckily my watering hole was only a mile away and I never had to actually ride on the street. One thing that brings a big grin :D remembering those days was some of the bars I'd pass while riding around had more bikes parked out front than cars. DUI victims I suppose.

I've done it and I'll probably do it again, but I sure wouldn't advise it or justify it being a good idea

link to the article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7994857.stm) about cycling and drinking in Poland...

What's going on in France (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6005270.ece)...

This is just odd that drunk cycling is considered just as bad as drunk driving. But should there be some kind of penalty? Maybe a different limit or just a public drunkeness citation similar to if you were walking drunk? If I were biking so erratically that I might hurt myself or someone, I'd want a cop to stop me. On the other hand, I don't need 11 months in the hoosegow to sober up, a few hours would do for me, thank you.

I don't get the strip search thing for the french woman either- maybe I had to be there.

This is just odd that drunk cycling is considered just as bad as drunk driving. But should there be some kind of penalty? Maybe a different limit or just a public drunkeness citation similar to if you were walking drunk? If I were biking so erratically that I might hurt myself or someone, I'd want a cop to stop me. On the other hand, I don't need 11 months in the hoosegow to sober up, a few hours would do for me, thank you.

I don't get the strip search thing for the french woman either- maybe I had to be there.

Eleven months in jail is going to do major damage to your life, no question about it.

I think most of us if given the choice would prefer ten drunk cyclists on the road rather than ten drunk car drivers. I would.

In LA you can get a CUI, (cycling under the influence) fine $250. The level of alcohol in your blood is unclear to me, it's not the same as driving a car...I don't believe that it's enforced often (to the best of my knowledge).

It's rather a conundrum for drinkers, isn't it? On one hand, there are bars all around us, parties with alcohol, all encouraging us not to drink alone at home. Does everyone always know when they have had too much to ride a bike? What if you are too far from home to walk anyway?

Should cabs have bike racks?

Should cabs have bike racks?

Not unless the owners/operators want racks.

If you drive or ride somewhere, get drunk, and need to get home you can just take a cab (or bus) and come back for your car/bike when you're sober.

Not only in Davis but anywhere in California,DUI on bicycles is the norm.It's just like driving a car,and you know it goes on your "permanent record"...LOL!

In my experience I've found that unlike cars, I can't operate a bicycle if properly drunk.

I can however, walk while pushing my bicycle drunk. Unlike a car.

One thing alcohol does do is destroy the ability of your blood to carry oxygen...so your brain doesn't get all the O2 it needs, and neither do your legs. I found this wasn't such a problem in Tulsa, where it is possible to avoid going up hills to get home. But then I moved to Seattle, and rented an apartment on the top of a hill...so now I don't ride after drinking so much, because going up the hill is just too painful.

hi, new here, just saw this thread, my 2 cents.

<background>i live in a mid sized college town that is notorious for handing out DUI's. i was car less for four years, and am currently very car lite since i can get anywhere here in about 10 minutes on a bike.

i also bar tend and feel i am a very competent bicyclist. i've ridden home drunk/wasted/buzzed a million times. i've never crashed, never been stopped by the cops. my commute to work is less than two miles and flat. traffic is not heavy at all by the time i leave work (drunk). these things contribute to my thoughts on drunk biking. dunno if i could do it if my ride was twice that or if in heavy traffic, etc. to me it's like muscle memory, hop on ride home. alcohol affects us all differently.

One of the nice things about bar hopping on a bike vs car, it's MUCH easier to push the bike home than the car. ;)

Im done drinking for a while get in WAY to much trouble with it wish i would of tried it when i did drink tho.

Cycling after a few beers down here is fairly serious. You will get done as if you were driving a car. To boot, you are permitted no alcohol in your system whatsoever while driving.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMYzcDeeZCM&feature=related

What's really screwed up is that in some places you can get a DUI while riding a horse. Not like the horse is going to trample someone because you're drunk.

What's really screwed up is that in some places you can get a DUI while riding a horse. Not like the horse is going to trample someone because you're drunk.

Maybe they mean that the horse can't be drunk. :)

I calculated the ft. lbs. of energy I generate on my bike when coming down a hill. It was equivalent to a .50 Browning Machine Gun bullet. Don't drink and pedal, boyos. Not only will you screw your chances of recovery if some idiot injures you, you can most certainly kill a person with your bike. Not to mention the fact that you can kill yourself or break your neck because your reflexes are impaired.

I calculated the ft. lbs. of energy I generate on my bike when coming down a hill. It was equivalent to a .50 Browning Machine Gun bullet. Don't drink and pedal, boyos. Not only will you screw your chances of recovery if some idiot injures you, you can most certainly kill a person with your bike. Not to mention the fact that you can kill yourself or break your neck because your reflexes are impaired.

Now all you need to do is to turn the cyclist into a bullet so your analogy would make sense. Just because you're getting hit by two objects with the same energy doesn't mean they are of similar lethality. There are many many ways the energy of a speeding cyclist could be converted upon a cyclist/person collision, not so much with a bullet/person collision. Its the difference between getting hit by a well packed iceball and a fluffy snowball that'll shatter on impact.

While it's true that there is a small chance that a cyclist could kill someone in a collision, it's also true that the cyclist might get struck by a falling jetliner right before impact, so LOGICALLY those improbably events will cancel each other out and its impossible for a cyclist to kill someone in a collision (because it would be the jetliners fault!). ;)

This is just odd that drunk cycling is considered just as bad as drunk driving. But should there be some kind of penalty? Maybe a different limit or just a public drunkeness citation similar to if you were walking drunk? If I were biking so erratically that I might hurt myself or someone, I'd want a cop to stop me. On the other hand, I don't need 11 months in the hoosegow to sober up, a few hours would do for me, thank you.

Here in Ontario, DUI laws only apply to *motor* vehicles. However if you are drunk on a bike and biking erratically then you can still be charged with "Careless driving". (and probably some kind of public drunkenness thing too, and no doubt mischief depending on what you are doing!)

The bullet is just by way of illustration. The point is that having a person fly into you going 15 or 20 MPH is most certainly dangerous. It may not be enough to kill a person all the time, but it certainly *can.* Esp. if they're young or small. Not to mention what it can do to the rider.

Don't drink a bunch then go zipping around on your bike. Agreed?

In Louisiana the Supreme Court ruled that you cannot get a DWI on a bike. Hooray!

Cosmoline, depends on what you mean by a bunch. Drunk, I'd have to walk since I couldn't stay upright. Tipsy, I'm riding extra defensively, scared that my slowed reactions will get me in trouble. Buzzed, I'm flying through traffic like a madman because I just feel so darn good!

Oh, and I've never heard of anyone killed or injured by being struck by a cyclist, drunk or otherwise. I agree there is a chance, but the circumstantial evidence says that it's a very remote one. *Ok, so spectators have gotten hit watching cycling races and I'm sure messengers have knocked some folks on their rumps, but the killing thing still holds right?*

I've never heard of anyone killed or injured by being struck by a cyclist, drunk or otherwise

Most of the time there are no serious injuries, and unlike autos there's no mandatory reporting requirement in most cities. So they pass unreported. But if you doubt the notion that a bike can hurt or kill you, I invite you to stand still while I piledrive into you on the Hoss ;-) Imagine a linebacker on a flying piece of steel hitting you at 20 mph.

As far as specific incidents, a few years back in Eugene a cyclist was killed in a nasty bike/bike accident.

Here's another reference:


Bicycles & Pedestrians

Bicycle vs. pedestrian accidents occur on this and other campuses. UC, Irvine lost a $4.5 million lawsuit when a student sued the school for negligence after suffering a disabling injury involving a bicycle. Cyclists need to be considerate of pedestrians, and must use caution on or around walkways.

https://www.amherst.edu/47410

There are quite a few documented cases of cyclists striking and killing pedestrians...maybe we should mandate helmets for peds?;)

Aaron:)

i know people who have gotten dui's riding their bike.




+1

an awareness campaign about drunken biking, akin to the now-familiar (and successful) anti-drunk driving campaigns

Uhh, successful?

I got stopped last fall at a roadside sobriety checkpoint on my way home after being at a house party and local town fair. It was 3AM and the cops must have been bored because as I approached, they flagged me down with a flashlight. I stopped (and heard the beer bottles in my backpack clink together loudly) and they asked me where I was coming from and where I was going. I slurred one of my answers and they pounced on it. I told them it was because I was out of breath. Then I quickly changed the subject and started saying that they were positioning the check points better now because that night and the night before they were in position to be more hidden and able to nail people easier...unless the driver took this one street and this other turn and got onto the main road over at this other place past the check point. They looked at me astonished and said, "Really??" I said, "Yeah, that was the way I used to do it." Then then they all laughed and told me to "get out of here!!" I suspect there would have been a different outcome if I had been driving a car.

Just don't eat the magic brownies. :innocent:

hi, new here, just saw this thread, my 2 cents.

<background>i live in a mid sized college town that is notorious for handing out DUI's. i was car less for four years, and am currently very car lite since i can get anywhere here in about 10 minutes on a bike.

i also bar tend and feel i am a very competent bicyclist. i've ridden home drunk/wasted/buzzed a million times. i've never crashed, never been stopped by the cops. my commute to work is less than two miles and flat. traffic is not heavy at all by the time i leave work (drunk). these things contribute to my thoughts on drunk biking. dunno if i could do it if my ride was twice that or if in heavy traffic, etc. to me it's like muscle memory, hop on ride home. alcohol affects us all differently.

I am exactly the same way. Only time I ever crashed was about a week after getting my first set of clipless pedals. Got a bit more drunk than I had planned and crashed 4 times in about 30 minutes. Nothing serious though as they all happened while clipping in or out so I was probably going about two mph.

I have been hurt a few times riding a bike drunk back in college. Bleed like a stuck pig too. I personally think the legal thing should be more of a drunk in public charge rather than a DUI, as you are not really endangering others as seriously as in a car, but that is just my opinion.