Up For Debate: Drinking and Bicycling
March 29, 2010 by Kathy McManus
Earlier this year, police in East Naples, Florida, pulled over a man who smelled of alcohol. In his possession were two cans of beer. The 51-year-old suspect was jailed for the night and charged with DUI — drunk while riding his bicycle.
Cycling under the influence has for years sparked discussion in bicycling communities around the world. “I would never consider driving a car after a few sips of wine, but somehow I think it’s OK to jump on my bike after four beers,” one London writer posted on his blog, asking, “Is it OK to drink and ride, or is it irresponsible and dangerous?”
When The New York Times reported that 21 per cent of New York City bicyclists who died within three hours of a bike accident had “alcohol in their bodies,” many readers echoed the following comment: “It’s important to note that the big problem with drinking and riding is getting hit by a car,” as opposed to drunk driving, where “you are much more a harm to others.”
Not so, say French police, who have arrested and fined tipsy cyclists in famed Bordeaux. “If we didn’t allow these people to sober up in custody we’d be leaving them in a dangerous condition where they’d be liable to commit an offense,” said the police chief.
Food- and wine-loving cyclists disagree, saying “it is impossible to savor the country’s cuisine without its best-known beverage.” Complained one, “Soon we’ll be arrested if we walk home drunk.”
Tell us what you think: Is it irresponsible to drink and bicycle? Should friends let friends bike drunk?
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59 Comments
What do you think? Leave a comment
May 9, 2010 by Nancy Savastano
I you cannot drive a car because you got DWI's, instead ride a bicycle. You have to get around somehow!!
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December 17, 2011 by Larry
They cannot arrest you due to the fact that the mode of transportation (namely the bicycle is NOT motorized so there is the fallacy with the dui laws
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December 17, 2011 by domfury
Actually, several states (PA for sure) give DUI's on anything with wheels.
December 17, 2011 by joe ski
You can be arrested for DWI for sleeping in your car with the keys in your pocket. You can be arrested for DWI for rowing a boat to shore. Government needs this money.
December 18, 2011 by Winston Manning
California is the same also. You can get arrested on a skateboard, in line skates, bicycle, or even a coasting shopping cart.
December 22, 2011 by Southern Belle
Under the influence should not be in control of anything that rolls and can do damage to people or property.They can be hurt if they loose control of a bike. Check how many go to the E.R.
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May 15, 2010 by Allen Brammer
yeah riding a bicycle is good option rather
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June 11, 2010 by Pasquale Bottiglieri
Let me create a hypothetical situation through which to underline the point I hope to make. An intoxicated man walks out onto an interstate highway. A driver, traveling at the speed limit of 55 miles per hour, encounters the man in the middle of his lane as he exits a curve in the road. Since he he has only a split second to react, he swerves sharply to his left since there is a vehicle to his right, jupps across the divider, and, losing control of his vehicle, slams head on into a van with several high school students returning from a school sponsored day at a baseball game. The driver is killed instantly and all of the occupants of the van suffer very serious injuries. Three die at the hospital.
Is it a crime to walk while intoxicated? If the question is phrased that way, the answer is obvious. However, if the perspective is shifted to focus on straight forward cause and effect, then the man who walked out onto the highway while intoxicated definitely caused injury and death and must be held responsible for it.
I hold the same perspective with a bike. It might help to take a look at the rate of accidents on paths used by bikers and walkers. It would appear that there is a definite responsibility attached to riding a bike in human and/or vehicle traffic.
Given that reality, there is no question that alertness and conscious ability to handle any situation that may arise is the responsibility of a person who voluntarily decides to transport him or her self on a bike. The use of alcohol or any substance that limits those capabilities must be interpreted as a failure to meet that responsibility.
The implementation of that concept is definitely open to discussion. Should a person who is riding a bike cautiously on a quiet street be fined if they have had two beers. I think common sense would dictate otherwise. On the other hand, if that same person entered heavy commuter traffic and was observed to be a danger to him or her self and other pedrestrians and/or drivers, I think common sense would dictate that a fine or other similar reaction would be in order.
In summary, law enforcement needs to have at its disposal the means to adequately protect the public and to prevent accidents from occurring. In conjunction with that, common sense needs to prevail and be an active and essential part of the implementation of the procedures put in place to accomplish that.
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June 3, 2011 by james
I guesse you would have law enter your house and take you to jail just and your lisence for as we have a right to do drink alcahol.
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November 1, 2011 by Jas
Your hypothetical lacks point. If a person is crossing the road on an unsafe curve and a driver swerves to avoid hitting that person and the driver dies. Shouldn't that person be responsible anyway regardless of intoxication?
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December 13, 2011 by Jeff Burns
The difference between a pedestrian and a bicycle is the bicycle is a legal street vehicle, and the pedestrian is not a street vehicle. Legally, riding while intoxicated will still get you a ticket, will probably go against your driving record, and possibly lose your license. (unless you are riding off the street on a cycling trail, then who knows who has jurisdiction? But riding on the normal sidewalk will also get you a ticket, possibly a twofer if you are intoxicated and on a street vehicle on a pedestrian sidewalk.)
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December 13, 2011 by Vicki Penn
In most communities, bicyclists/bicycles are considered vehicles and their riders/drivers are responsible for all traffic laws just like motor vehicle drivers. If you cannot be responsible then don't get on the roads.If bicyclists wish to be protected by traffic laws, then they must also be prepared to follow all traffic laws. Not just the ones they find convenient...
December 15, 2011 by John
@Pasquale Bottiglieri,
Drunk persons walking into traffic are definitely candidates for the Darwin award. Drivers willing to kill themselves by dangerously swerving so that they don't hit the drunk pedestrian are also candidates for the Darwin award. The way I see it, if some drunk dude enters my driving lane, I'll move a bit to try and miss him but not to the extent that I will cause my car to lose control or endanger any other motorist. Losers who get drunk in public should be made to carry "Irresponsible and Stupid Drunk" insurance to cover the costs of accidents they cause. But in the end, you need to wait until some drunk actually causes property damage or injury to someone else before citing them with any form of penalty.
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December 26, 2011 by Meyer
Comon sense? The law does not know what that is.
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July 7, 2010 by country brown
Im 4 it we must look out 4 the safty of ohters and 4 the drinkers some times u r not contious of wat is takin place after u had a frew drinks. T hat inner man takes ova and gives u a sense of couragement that u can do any thing that yr mind is thinking of at that moment The law is protecting us and keepin us out of harms way god bless them.
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August 2, 2010 by L Potter
An article by Samantha Booth at thefreelibrary publicizes accident statistics that reveal the extent to which tragedy is caused by non vehicular drunkenness.
Nearly half of all pedestrians killed in road accidents between 10pm and 4am on Friday and Saturday nights are more than twice the drink driving limit.
One in three pedestrian fatalities had alcohol levels over the legal limit for driving.
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October 6, 2011 by Jeff
Perhaps we should just get all the cars and trucks off the road. Nobody focus' on driving anymore and I still see many on thier cell phones or texting, and most find it to difficult to turn on the blinker and all thats needed is a little movement from one little finger. So till I no longer see people being careless while sober and driving and causing accidents,( no such thing as an accident unless mother nature is involved), I'm gonna have to say that would be just another dumb law that doesn't get enforced too.
December 10, 2011 by Billy
Maybe we should outlaw TYPING while intoxicated....
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October 22, 2010 by Joe
Walk or pay a taxi, if a car driver runs the bike rider over because of his (her) drunkness and lack of reflects or being careful engough, will go through trial and maybe jail if the drunk person has a good lawyer, let's avoid the problem.
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December 4, 2010 by Tyler
I honestly think it depends on the setting and circumstance in which the cycler is "peddling". If they are inexperienced on bikes, thenstay off... But there are cyclers who ride speed bicycles in the middle of the road all of the time - the law mandates, at least in Georgia, to share the road; driving at the safe speed decided for that road... That being said, in a neighborhood where the speed limit is 15 mph. and there are children playing or even peddling in the road, a driver of a vehicle should not even go or surpass 10 mph. over that speed limit.
Plain and simple, it will always be the drivers fault! If they are going fast around a sharp turn on back country roads, they may encounter an obstacle after the turn and they may hit them... If they follow suggested speeds from signs then they would be able to slow down in time to avoid the incident. As for city roads, no bicycles should be allowed in the first place, unless there is a cycling lane and the peddler is sober. Road races may be another reason to slow drivers down... But that is just annoying if you are a vehicle commuter.
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December 18, 2010 by ron
Riding a bike in the city is already very dangerous. Daily I experience some close call where an irresponsble driver comes out of a blind alley without stopping or makes a turn right in front of me because they were only looking for oncoming traffic in the opposite direction. Many of those drivvers are on cell phones and are mentally only half 'there' anyway.
My reaction time is critical in situations like that. For my own safety, I don't drink and peddle. Maybe the auto driver is either impaired or distracted. You never know.
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August 24, 2011 by marc abramson
DRINKING AND DRIVING DRUNK IS RETARDED, DON'T BECOME ONE!!!!
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November 1, 2011 by ray allen
I agree with everything you've said.
I started to leave for work yesterday, and the last thing my girlfriend asked me before kissing me goodbye was where my helmet was (I was carrying it and hadn't put it on yet).
Helmets, properly adjusted brakes, and a mirror have repeatedly kept me from becoming a good ornament when drivers see but don't perceive anything smaller than another car as they're trying to drive, text, and talk on the phone at the same time.
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December 28, 2010 by Ann Meisel
Several years ago, my sister was walking her dogs along a path in a park, a drunken young man riding a bicycle at high speed struck her. She suffered a traumatic brain injury that cost her her livelihood, a significant portion of her memory, and her home after extensive medical bills. The cyclist was riding his bike in part because he had lost his license to drive because of DUI's; the cycle was his way of getting around. The barkeep never thought to cut him off. What harm could he do? Because of the speeds one can achieve on a bike, it and its rider can be a dangerous weapon for a pedestrian. Drunken cyclists are dangerous to others not just themselves. Had he been forced to walk home drunk he only would have been a danger to himself.
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June 3, 2011 by james
well you should get a law that a person must have a licence to drive a bike. so tell your kids they can't ride their bikes intell a test from the government is passed
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September 23, 2011 by vinn
Yes, blame the bartender. C'mon, have some common sense. There is only one to blame & thats the druken idiot. We have to get back to holding people responsible for their own actions instead of looking around for others to blame. This is suppose to be a free country. Rights of the individual. This accident is a tragedy for your sister & family. I hope you didn't sue the bar? Is every bar keep & owner suppose to know the future now on what every drinkers actions will be once they leave. The guy could of walked his bike home. Only one person is to blame here. Maybe should go after the guy that delivered the beer, supplier & manufacturer. Stupid is as Stupid does!!!
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January 22, 2011 by nick saphonchak
Being sober for quite some time now and one who did some insane behavior while being intoxicated, like riding a bike down a busy highway.I feel more than adequate to answere the question.Yes, you should be charged with a DWI. If you at any time indanger the community around you while using a vehicle of any sort while on the road even a kiddycart,you should be held responsible.Like driving, drinking is a priveledge.Be responsible.If not,pay the consequences.
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June 3, 2011 by Jim
well I live in mission , Ks. but I was walking home from the club and was arrested by Overlandpark police and all I was doing was going home . well that encounter cost me about 5,000 dollars. the cops can arest us we cant do anything about it,oh yea we hire a laywer. I do know something is wrong with our leagle system,most troubling is how cops have to much power over citezens!
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December 11, 2011 by BearArrow
You are lucky to work with such great cops. But I live in Los Angeles where the cops have ego issues, too many guns and an astonishing willingness to beat up anyone who wonders why they're behaving like jerks.
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August 23, 2011 by Frank overton
I was wondering if anyone who posts here has gone past 4th grade in their english and spelling studies?
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August 29, 2011 by yeah
I'm wondering if those who've posted have passed the cops drunk, or are posting while drinking. I work with some of the very best cops in the world, and some of the very worst. The best cops are in the business because they CARE, THEY don't want ANYONE to get hurt! The worst are in it so they can be the ones, with the law on their side, to do the hurting! PLEASE DON'T drive, walk, peddle, ride a motorcycle, or scoot on you butt drunk! CALL A CAB, A FRIEND, even try your parents if they can come and get you, but don't be a statistic, or worse harm or kill someone else!!!!
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August 29, 2011 by yeah
I'm wondering if those who've posted have passed the cops drunk, or are posting while drinking. I work with some of the very best cops in the world, and some of the very worst. The best cops are in the business because they CARE, THEY don't want ANYONE to get hurt! The worst are in it so they can be the ones, with the law on their side, to do the hurting! PLEASE DON'T drive, walk, peddle, ride a motorcycle, or scoot on you butt drunk! CALL A CAB, A FRIEND, even try your parents if they can come and get you, but don't be a statistic, or worse harm or kill someone else!!!!
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