Chris L

Not entirely true. A drunk cyclist hit and killed a ped in Newcastle, Australia about ten years ago. OK, it's not the most common thing in the world, but it's still a possibility. If you're going to go out drinking, either arrange a ride with someone who isn't drinking, or use public transport.

cyclezealot

I have been to Europe 18 times in my life.. I find public drinking very common- even far more rampant there than in the US..At night, in England, the pubs are packed.. yet, I felt alcoholism and driving while intoxicated is less common..
I know my nephew who lived in Barcelona, we were constantly in the pubs.. That is where you had dinner along with the tapas..
I felt the availability of cheap public transit assists the drunks in not using their cars.. Transit in the US is not so readily available.. Even taxi's in some towns are rare and certainly not economical..

mike

Anyway, I will say that bicycling while intoxicated is a very difficult thing to do. If it was easy, more people would do it. Driving a car drunk is easier than riding a bike drunk. After all, if you fall asleep at the stop light on your bike, you will fall over. If you fall asleep at the stop light in a car, you wake yourself up when your forehead hits the horn.

In most cases, cops that COULD arrest you for bicycling drunk won't. They would rather see you on a bike than in a car.

My suggestion is that if you are going drinking, please DO take a human powered vehicle. If at all possible, make it a tricycle with a nice cushy seat like a recumbent so you can snooze at the stop lights without falling over.

Da Tinker

I, too, have little tolerance for DUI drivers, having lost way too many friends to drunk drivers and their own drunkeness. Several years ago, a gent was stopped and written up for DUI on a bicycle, and it stuck in court. It caused some local controversy and letters to the editor and such. Public opinion settled out as it was a good bust, since he was endagering himself.

Funny thing is, this is in an area where most grown men on bikes are there because they have lost their license due to DUI, and have no other way to get around.

Arsbars

I know from experience I have never been messed with while riding drunk.. but i know that it is possible. Depends where you are and how badly it looks. I mean how can they tell you just can't ride a bike.. You don't have to pass a test to be able to ride one ya know?

trmcgeehan

Second follow-up to my original DUI post: There's something I didn't know about DUI's, and it appeared in the Lexington, KY Herald-Leader a few days ago. In most states, the DUI maximum blood-alcohol level is 0.08 having come down from .010, which was common a few years ago. BUT, according to the article, most states mandate a 0.02 maximum for any driver under 21. Two beers or two glasses of wine can put many people over the 0.02 limit (especially smaller women). This is news to me. So, if it's true, a driver under 21 has gotta be extra careful!

ChipRGW

There is an easy solution...
one drink = no driving
period.

Anyone that drinks alcohol and gets in a car and drives deserves the MAXIMUM penalty. This also applies to operating vehicles under the influence of any substance that would affect judgement and reaction time, including prescription meds.
As far as on a bike, it may not be quite as dangerous for others, but it does increase the risk severely. If one caused an accident while under the influence and biking, they should be punished as severely as if they had been in a car.

bac

How about the cell phone substance? Sorry - wrong post!

mike

True indeed, and when you consider that your average eleven year old driver rarely weighs more than 80 lbs, the effects of drinking and driving are compounded

Merriwether

It's possible to get a BUI in my state. The code is written so that the DUI statute covers cyclists. Most states are that way.

Washington is an exception, I know. As someone mentioned earlier, there was a guy who litigated all the way to the WSSC. He was on a bike, and drunk, but claimed there was no law against BUI. The Court ruled in his favor. The statute is ambiguous in WA between "motor vehicle" and "vehicle" so the ambiguity had to be resolved in the guy's favor.

In my neck of the woods, a cyclist is subject to the same penalties for BUI as for DUI. Not only that, but the same penalties for refusing to take the blood test apply. You could lose your license for a year for refusing to take a blood/breath/urine test on a bike.

In reality, cops ignore bicycles here. Some of the more glorious riding moments I've had in recent months have come from riding along a checkpoint line. Cars lined up as if it were judgment day, and I rolling along on the right. The cops didn't care at all about me. As long as I wasn't visibly losing control of the bike I could drink all I want, I suppose, and not worry about being snagged.

bac

Actually, 2 drinks (wine/beer) - even consumed over a period of AN HOUR, can put a relatively light female @ the .10 level. Even if you are a 160 pound male - 3 drinks in a hour will put you over the legal limit in most states @ .08.

Check it out:

BAC Table

a2psyklnut

My wife and I have adopted a new rule for our family. If we go out to eat, a party, whatever. One of us drinks the other drives. This rule is specifically amended when visiting each others parents. If we are visiting her parents, I get to drink, and vice versa.

We've pretty much given up drinking altogether, no real reason. I guess maturity and sense of responsibility. However, an occasional beer or glass of wine is not unheard of.

However, with my size and weight, two drinks during a meal will still keep me safely below the .080, but why risk it?

If you drink have someone else drive. If you want to do so while on a bicycle, buy a tandemn!

L8R

Pat

Here in Florida, many people get their licenses revoked for DUI and they bicycle instead. Often drunk, at night without lights. I have never heard of anyone being ticketed for DUI. I think the police figure that pulling over cyclists is beneath their dignity (maybe like small fish, they are not "keepers"). Or perhaps they figure that the words "drunken cyclist" are spelled R O A D K I L L.

Personally, given the fact that cycling requires far more balance, awareness and energy then driving, I don't think CUI (cycling under the influence) will ever be a significant problem.

LET

Both Oregon and California hold cyclists to the same rules as auto drivers when considering DUI.

Pete Clark

The best place to be after a few drinks is on the couch, or in bed.

Stay off the road, whether on a bike or in a car.

Pete Clark

Just my 2cents, from someone who's been there.

ngateguy

I think you will find that most states have repealed DIP laws just so people had other options beside hoping in there cars. Now I am not untarnished in this mater I have been through the ordeal here in Washington and in my opinion I just do no understand why you would want to ride a bike so you can get around be responsible for what you do. My vote is next time instead of driving or riding get a designated driver or a taxi it is cheaper in the long run. Total cost for my oops here by the time I was done (this include legal fees and loss of pay for time spent on it ) was $5800 that was one heck of an expensive pitcher of beer. I now have pretty much a zero tolerance to it when it comes to me. It was not right for me to do it because I could of put other people in harms way.

pnj I was part of that discussion a while back and never did get back and post what I found out. Because of that case the law was changed to operating any vehicle under the influence and that means a cycle and it is still a vehicle when it is on a sidewalk however I think you would have to be pretty messed up and an obvious safety threat for that to happen

Hey Chris cleansing the gene pool through natural process is not necessarily a bad thing. have a good weekend

martin

Don't do it in Indian Harbour Beach, Florida. Also, don't even think of getting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle after a drink or two. One of their police force was killed by a drunk driver a few years ago and they are very aggressive in their pursuit - they even keep decals on their vehicles that show how many they have busted. The decals are in the shape of martini glasses.

gothost

For three years I meet up with a bunch of other
guys every week for trivia and beer here in California. They all drive I ride my bike about 8 miles there and back after I've had a few. It's weird to think I could get pulled over for it, I truly feel I'm being safer and honestly it helps work off the calories from the drinks. Now if your doing it would you beach cruiser like me where you only go 10mph or street bike/mountain bike it? Which one is more likely pulled over? I have the lights but I do have music blaring as I ride. I just hope I don't get pulled over in the future, I think if I stay on sidewalks I'll be fine. You never know though

orguasch

[QUOTE=gothost;16897489]For three years I meet up with a bunch of other
guys every week for trivia and beer here in California. They all drive I ride my bike about 8 miles there and back after I've had a few. It's weird to think I could get pulled over for it, I truly feel I'm being safer and honestly it helps work off the calories from the drinks. Now if your doing it would you beach cruiser like me where you only go 10mph or street bike/mountain bike it? Which one is more likely pulled over? I have the lights but I do have music blaring as I ride. I just hope I don't get pulled over in the future, I think if I stay on sidewalks I'll be fine. You never know though[/QUOTE


I got a ticket riding my bike for running a red light and got two demerits point on my drivers license, I was told by the Court that if I ride my bike on the road I am covered by the Highway traffic Act. you willl get stopped and ticked for DUI if you drink and ride you're bike

GravelMN

Zombie thread, I know, but still relevant. I'm glad that N_C and others here are against riding while intoxicated. I don't agree that riding intoxicated is a risk only to the drunken rider. I can think of several realistic scenarios in which a drunk on a bike could cause serious injury or death of another person. Collision with a pedestrian or another rider comes to mind first. It is also quite possible that weaving or crossing in front of traffic could result in a car swerving to avoid killing the drunk cyclist and striking another vehicle, rider or pedestrian; hitting an inanimate object like a parked car, road barrier or light pole; or leaving the roadway causing a rollover or other potentially fatal accident.

Even if I was uninjured and the accident wasn't my fault, I would still feel terrible if someone was killed in a collision with my vehicle. It would be even more tragic if it could have been easily foreseen and prevented.

fietsbob

They take you in, and Breathalyzer test you like any other road user operating a vehicle.

Dave Horne

I thought I had posted in this tread but apparently not.

My wife told me a story about a guy she knew over here who after driving drunk (using his car) and luckily not being stopped by the police, went home, got his bike, returned to the check point and then did a 'na na na naaa na' to the police. He got a ticket for being drunk on a bike.

prathmann

California has a separate section of the vehicle code for bicycling under the influence with specific penalties that are less than for driving under the influence. Seems reasonable since the potential for harming others is greatly reduced.

wphamilton

How does the breathalyzer test work with cycling? I have always understood that a driver refusing a breath test would lead to the DMV revoking the driver's license. Regardless of the fourth and sixth amendment protections, the license is administrative matter and not criminal, and we've consented in advance when applying for the license. That's the main downside to refusing, and it's big but better than an automatic DUI, unless your infraction is so egregious that they get a warrant or make an example of you.

But could the DMV revoke your license if you refused while riding a bike? On one hand, if you're not driving it doesn't have anything to do with the license so you'd think not. On the other hand you're operating a vehicle on the public streets and maybe that implied consent still pertains. So which is it? If you'd been drinking, and were stopped while riding a bike, would you refuse the breathalyzer?