Drinking and Cycling
By this point, everyone should know better than to drink and drive. A car can cause a lot of damage even at a low speed, and thus, should only be driven when in a sober state of mind. However, the law in most states is a touch fuzzier when it comes to the issue of bicycling while drunk. The good news is that in many states, you might be arrested for drinking and cycling if acting obviously intoxicated, but you may not face punishments.
The key issue in drunk driving law is that many still use the term “motor” vehicles. This means cars, boats, and even your lawnmower shouldn’t be used while intoxicated. Yet, a bicycle doesn’t have a motor. In states where the statutes still specify motor vehicles, it makes it easy for the right defense attorney to argue that you weren’t driving a motor vehicle. Furthermore, as bicycles often do minimal damage to others, though can do much damage to your own person, courts will generally look more favorably on a drunk cyclist as opposed to a drunk motorist.
State to State
However, if you live in a state the specifically specifies “vehicles” instead of “motor vehicles” then they have probably already taken into consideration the event of drunk cyclists. However, since you do not need to hold a license in order to cycle, the punishments will be less severe in nature. If you hold a driver’s license, unfortunately, there may be punishments against that, but the courts can’t technically stop you from cycling.
While cycling under the influence charges usually come with the minimal punishments, you still don’t want to face them or have them on your record. If you have been arrested for biking under the influence and need help, contact us today to see what we can do to help you out.