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Ever considered about going away out for a night on the city and truly turn up the amusement but were fretful regarding how you were going to get home? Did you then speculate if you could just ride your bike up the roadway to the neighborhood drinking hole and ride it back down after your night of entertainment? Hopefully this commentary can respond your inquiries concerning whether or not you can be charged with driving under the influence (DUI) for riding a mountain bike under the influence.

Before I get underway, though, let me point out that this commentary is for informational purposes only. I have not done a inclusive search of each state’s laws on the topic of this question, so your state’s rules may be not the same. Before you make a decision to go out on the town and ride your bike impaired (or even ride your bicycle after drinking), please confer with an lawyer in your area just to make certain. Also, to end with, the purpose of this article is not to promote people to ride their bikes under the influence. Whether or not it is criminal, it is unsafe. The only goal of this piece is to respond a question many people have.

Let’s set the setting here to facilitate resolve our question. Let’s say you are at home at night, in Seattle, Washington, for the purposes of the example, and you consume a couple beers while watching a baseball game during the weekend. At the finish of the football game, ravenous for some Dick’s, you leap on your bicycle and make the about 1 mile ride toward hamburger bliss. While on your route to the restaurant, you are pulled over by a cop. The officer remarks that you weren’t riding your cycle straight, your breath smelled of booze, and your eyes were bloodshot (side note - you are assured to spot these physical symptoms approximately one hundred percent of the time in police reports). After witnessing these signs, the police officer asks if you’d be agreeable to undertake some field sobriety tests. You consent, and act upon marginally (side note yet again - in Washington in particular, you should never acquiesce to take field sobriety tests - you have no requirement to). At that point you are detained on suspicion of drunk driving and taken down to the Seattle police station.

The query now becomes, is riding a racing bike while inebriated a criminal act? The statute regarding driving under the influence, if, in our case, the guy was riding his mountain bike in Seattle, reads, “A person is guilty of driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug if the person drives a vehicle within this state…” RCW 46.61.502. Because of this, the questions then become, what is a “vehicle.”

Vehicle is defined in Washington statutes (in keeping with the example) as “including every device capable of being moved upon a public highway and in, upon, or by which any persons or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a public highway, including bicycles. The term does not include power wheelchairs or devices other than bikes moved by human or animal power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. Mopeds shall not be considered vehicles or motor vehicles for the purposes of chapter 46.70 RCW. racing bikes shall not be considered vehicles for the purposes of chapter 46.12, 46.16, or 46.70 RCW. Electric personal assistive mobility devices are not considered vehicles or motor vehicles for the purposes of chapter 46.12, 46.16, 46.29, 46.37, or 46.70 RCW.” Chapter 46.12 covers certificates of ownership and registration. Chapter 46.16 covers vehicle licenses, and chapter 46.70 covers dealers and manufacturers” What this connotes is at this moment it seems as though bikes tumble into the meaning of vehicles under the driving under the influence statute.

However not so speedy. One of the wonderful things in relation to American jurisprudence is that the courts (and your Seattle driving under the influence attorney) are able to claim not only the plain words of the law, but the objective of the legislature when creating the law. In this case, a analysis of the legislative aim, combined with a assessment of further statutes, shows that mountain bikes were by no means really intended to be incorporated in drunk driving laws. First, on the subject of legislative intent. The legislature altered the designation of vehicle not to encapsulate mountain bikes for under the influence driving purposes, but to encapsulate bikes in the traffic rules and rules. Prior to this characterization was altered, bikes were not theoretically required to follow the set of laws of the road. Including racing bikes in the designation of vehicles permitted that to occur.

Next, the definition for all other driving under the influence related rules appear to take in a reference to motor vehicles and require at least exercising power over a motor vehicle. This further advances the belief that mountain bikes and bicyclists were not intended to be covered by DUI statutes. In addition, the penalty for under the influence driving itself doesn’t make sense with someone on a cycle. The principal penalty is suspension of driving privileges - only riding a bicycle doesn’t require a license.

As a result, at least in our Seattle, Washington illustration, if you ride a bicycle while impaired, you most likely cannot be found guilty of drunk driving. And this logic seems to be relevant to most other states as well. However, as I mentioned earlier, ahead of doing anything, please speak with an practiced Seattle criminal attorney.