I guess it is a vehicle.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080623/od_nm/wheelchair1_dc_1

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Police in Australia have charged a man for drink driving in a motorized wheelchair after he was found to be six times over the legal alcohol limit, local media reported on Monday.

Police in the tropical northern Queensland city of Cairns said the man had a blood alcohol reading of 0.31, and was so drunk he was asleep at the controls of his motorized wheelchair in a turning lane of a major highway.

"It beggars belief," Police Inspector Bob Walters told the Cairns Post newspaper, adding wheelchairs, bicycles, horses and skateboards were all considered to be vehicles under the state's road laws.

"It's unlawful, it is unacceptable and people should realize it could lead to a fatality," he said.

Other motorists on the four-lane highway had to swerve to avoid the wheelchair, police said.

(Reporting by James Grubel; Editing by David Fox)

"Sir you cannot operate your vehicle in the mall."

"But I am Stephen Hawking"

"I would not care if you were the smartest man on earth..."

Rockets fire from the Stephen Hawking death chair.

0.31? Isn't 0.4 dead?

at first i was thinking how rediculous, but if the guy is so plastered and out of it that he became a hazard to others driving then that seems like a good way to deal with him.

Yeah. I'm sure police wouldn't arrest a guy driving his wheelchair down the SIDEWALK if he wasn't bothering anybody. Even if they knew he was drunk. But he was on a motorway disrupting traffic. Idiot. He got what was coming to him.

914Driver wrote: 0.31? Isn't 0.4 dead?

I really can't answer that...but if it IS true...he still had about 25% of life reserves working for him.

I'm just sayin'

I agree though...endangering himself and others...there should be some sort of penalty. Even if you get drunk and walk out in the middle of a highway...should be some ramifications.

Clem

Dunno about the .4 blood alcohol killing someone (I believe Bon Scott was in the mid .30's when he died), but there have been several cases where guys would drink several beers while cutting the grass, take their riding mowers to the convenience store to buy beer and get busted for DUI. IIRC, there's a DUI on a horse as well.

914Driver wrote: 0.31? Isn't 0.4 dead?

For most. I was hit by a guy who tested at .43 so clearly tolerance plays into it.

I knew a guy who got a DWI on a bicycle

I know in PA, if it has wheels and you can ride, you can get a DUI.. this includes skateboards and bicycles.. and probably wheelchairs and shopping carts

"It beggars belief," said Police Inspector Bob

aircooled wrote:

914Driver wrote: 0.31? Isn't 0.4 dead?

For most. I was hit by a guy who tested at .43 so clearly tolerance plays into it.

My sister got an underage with a similarly high BAC. She said she felt like she was sweating Tequila.

I used to know an old guy who had lost his license for multiple DUIs. Every day he would drive the Lawn Boy down to the convenience store and buy his case of Bud. He had the sense to stay sober until he got home, though.

I also had a friend who was busted for drunk walking. He had a few too many at the local, he did the right thing, and decided to walk the mile or so home. A cop came along and busted him. If he'd driven, he'd likely have been home long before the cop saw him. Sometimes ya just can't win.

914Driver wrote: 0.31? Isn't 0.4 dead?

I took a class taught by a guy who runs a alcohol treatment facility, he had a woman walk in last year and admit herself. She blew a 0.7. She WALKED in. Yea. Talk about tolerance.

As for the article...he was driving on the road, he follows the same rules as the cars.

Most likely the ones who blow a super high ratio have some alcohol between their lungs and the device. Either they just drank some, vomited some, or refluxed some.

.4 is not death. It may be to a novice drinker, but to a career drunkard, it might be a daily maintenance level.

I know a person charged with drunken boating for being passed out in a canoe.

i've had friends get DUI's on the following:

electric wheelchair - when he drinks he now is supposed to have someone push him in his non power chair, but i still see his tiny ass zipping around the parking lot in front of the bar

bicycle - non motorized acting responsible absurdity

skateboard - even more absurd than a DUI on a bicycle - the cops got him for "operating a toy vehicle" and it held up in court.

MrJoshua wrote: I knew a guy who got a DWI on a bicycle

Well damn! That blows my whole anti-dui plan on friday and/or saturday nights! And to think I'm going to have to go back to using my legs...like a sucker!

Clem

Twin_Cam wrote:

914Driver wrote: 0.31? Isn't 0.4 dead?

As for the article...he was driving on the road, he follows the same rules as the cars.

At the ripe old age of 15, my buddy Ron and I were stopped by a cop. We bought a "field car" for $50 and had to drive it ONE STINKING BLOCK in Suburbia on the street before jetting into the woods.

Long story short, it's $1500 and a year in jail for unregistered, uninsured driving in this State. Ron's mom came up and bitchslapped him around the back of the Crown Vic for a while and the cop let us go.

So, I guess motorized wheel chair guy coulda done worse.

Dan

My uncle used to drive his lawn mower around town when he lost his license (multiple times). Webster County was a dry county though, so he couldn't drive for beer.