BUI-The importance of lights
 

I posted a while back about my BUI. Well, all is said and done now and here is what to expect if you get a BUI (but you're actually charged with a DUII and you have a DUII on your record)

12 hours in jail
80 hours of community service
Victims panel meeting (you sit in a room with drunk drivers and get guilt tripped)
3 months of alcohol treatment classes (you are drug tested once a week. Alcohol stays in your system for 7 days so kiss the beer goodbye) - September through November is going to SUCK.
2 years of bench probation (if you are caught drinking a beer, hanging out in a bar or in possession of beer you go to jail for 30 days)
And about $1,000 in fines (not including lawyer fees)

I was only stopped because my tail light was out, riding through a residential neighborhood 3 blocks from my house.

Had I spent the $50 on the planet bike red LED light that I currently have now, I would not be in this situation.

So, if you have ****ty lights, bite the bullet and buy a planet bike red LED and a cateye white LED.

/rant

Two years probation? Did this somehow turn in to a felony stop?

OMG really? I would get a good attonrney, that sounds rediculous.

Hahahahahahaha

This did not turn into a felony stop. I had no pot on me and was super cooperative with the cops.

I got a public defender, who turned out to be awesome. When I met with him in his office for the first time, he has a dope Colnago road bike and told me he rides his bike everywhere, dude even owns a track bike. When he read the police report and found out that I was on a bike, his tone with me suddenly changed.

He told me he gets someone with a BUI about once a month and every time its taken to trial, the jury convicts you. Here in Portland, there is lots of beef between cyclists and motorists. I didn't want to risk getting a jury of fat, lazy suburban-driving soccer moms and get reamed twice as hard.

Since my BAC was .2, the judge was stern about it. Had I been driving a 12,000 pound car, the consequences would have been the same.

They even suspended my driver's license.
Also, if I wouldn't have blown, I could've gotten this whole ****ing thing dropped. NEVER BLOW.

Serious bull****.

Completely shafted.

Seriously, I even made the 2nd page in Busted Magazine, charged with a DUII, on a page full of people in there for ****, assault, etc.
If you're unfamiliar with Busted...
http://www.bustedpaper.com/

I understand DWI and hurting people, but who are you going to hurt riding a bike drunk? get a better attirney

I spelled atourney wrong

and again, **** it

It's atturney.

attorney

It's utterly.

As in this thread is utterly confusing...I'm not sure if he is kidding or not.

Aye. The ol' mnemonic device. Rip Torn needs an at-torn-ey. Rip, Rip Torn.

psssh...elitists and their proper spelling.

I'll tell you. I'm an attorney in Texas. It's sounds like the consequences for being intoxicated in your state is overkill.
In Texas, as long as you have a clean record, you really will only get charged with public intox. That's pretty much the worst you will get. BUT you will be placed in the tank for sure. It's good to have good PRIVATE council too. ( doesn't hurt).

I've ridden one too many times, including last night, intoxicated and I've spoken to officers while intoxicated, and they just think we are stupid. (which we are).

I'm really sorry you had to go through that entire senario. It's very stressful.

Always have an attorney in your pocket. It doesn't cost much to retain one per year.

As for the lights. You are 100% correct. They are very important, not only for safety but also it gives police less reason to pull you over. In Dallas we have to wear helmets, I don't but that would be a great reason for me to get hassled.

I've got a planet bike as well. And a Blackburn in the front. Saved my ass many times.

Socks

mmm

We've seen numerous incidents in Austin where cyclists have sent pedestrians to the hospital from collision. I disagree with your punishment, but I think we could all agree cycling while intoxicated is stupid and dangerous.

Didn't realize BUI was such a serious offense ? I'd never get .2 drunk, since I don't abuse any other drugs beyond caffeine and nicotine, I should be safe ? I don't ride at night, well I take that back, I rode to the ATM thru the neighborhood a few hours back just tonight and it's probably 3/4 to a mile to the bank/atm, so it might take all of 10-15 minutes or so, actual riding time, at a leisurely pace. I guess if they wanted to really harass me for it, the police could, for riding lightless ? I'll have to check into those. Uggghhh, now I'll have to get batteries, do they have them where they are quick mounts to xfer from bike to bike ? I may have a desire to choose which bike (road, track or 26" atb) I ride and don't want to buy multiple sets of lights, then have to maintain batteries for each, it's bad enough I have to do it for all the remote controls in the house.

Yeah, most lights are quick mount/dismount including the ever popular Plant Bike Super Flash.

I think it also has to do with what time of the night you're out riding in the case of a BUI. Not sure whether it's worse to be BUI during the day, more traffic & pedestrians or after they've thrown you out of the bar at closing time on Saturday or Sunday AM ? Most of the accidents I read about, actually are road bikers up at the crack of dawn, sober, they get hit by the drunks that are driving home at sunrise when some clubs close here in Miami, FL.

About the only place I ever lived close enough to the night life was in Daytona Beach, FL. Spring Break was actually a lot of fun, but the clubs I went to there were actually close enough to walk to, bike locking problems avoided. Jax Beach, that area has bars/pubs you can bike to and then there's South Beach, but that's 15 miles to and from, not really convenient for me.

For FL, lighting requirements:

(8) Every bicycle in use between sunset and sunrise shall be equipped with a lamp on the front exhibiting a white light visible from a distance of at least 500 feet to the front and a lamp and reflector on the rear each exhibiting a red light visible from a distance of 600 feet to the rear. A bicycle or its rider may be equipped with lights or reflectors in addition to those required by this section.

Why should being drunk on a bike have anything to do with your driver's license? You don't need a license to ride a bike, therefore it should be unrelated. A neighbor of mine gets around solely by bike and doesn't even have a driver's license. What would happen in that instance?

Doing a lot of things while intoxicated are stupid and dangerous. But a drunk riding a bicycle is a drunk who is not driving a car. Sure, the drunk on a bicycle might send a pedestrian to the hospital, but the same drunk behind the wheel of a car is far more likely to send the same pedestrian to the morgue.

I completely agree with that. That is some serious overkill, IMO. Hilarious overkill.
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/4...kill4jj.th.jpg

And don't BUI. :P

Yes, but for the system to work everyone has the right to go thru life without having to go to the hospital because a drunk hit them, whether it was with a car or a bike. Why should there be any delineation in level of remorse ? I shouldn't be any less sorry if I hit someone with my bike vs tapping them at a crosswalk in the car. I should be concerned over their safety and any pain that was inflicted by my actions. Even more so, I should be financially responsible too, whether insured thru a 3rd party or self-insured.

BUI? No problem...
Just ride on the sidewalk without lights and the cops won't notice you weaving in the shadows.

Par for the course really. Here in CA BUI = DUI with all that that entails. While the (lack of a) light contributed to the stop the fact remains that the OP blew well over the limit. .2 is pretty damn twisted....

Well, there is a clear delineation of potential property damages that might occur from two completely different, yet similar, actions. One being the potential risks of drunken cycling. Two being the potential damage of drunken driving.

Look at it this way, we have felonies and misdemeanors for different crimes.

Granted, when the penalties for DUI meet a certain criteria---thanks to organizations such as MADD---the penalties are cut and dry. The OP, casually cycling down his neighborhood gets the same penalty as the drunken bar hopper going 98 mph in his BMW. Well, the guy in the BMW also gets a speeding citation.

This is really insane. I'd get an attorney and fight it for the sake of fighting it.