DUI on a Horse? Of Course!

Associated Press
May. 10, 2005 05:00 PM

SOMERSET, Ky. - A man has been charged with drunken driving - for riding a horse while allegedly intoxicated. Millard Greg Dwyer, 42, was arrested Sunday night after he rode his horse onto a downtown street in front of an off-duty state trooper, Somerset Police Lt. Allan Coomer said. Trooper Martin Wesley told local officers that Dwyer looked like he was about to fall off the horse. Coomer said Dwyer admitted to being drunk and told officers that he had ridden the horse from Fishing Creek, which was about 5 miles away.Dwyer told officers that he had consumed about a 12-pack, Coomer said. Dwyer failed sobriety tests, Coomer said, and was charged with operating a vehicle other than a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicants.A breath test showed Dwyer's alcohol level at .244, more than three times the limit, Coomer said.Dwyer was released from the Pulaski County Dentention Center Monday, jail officials said. He faces a fine of between $20-$100, plus court costs, Coomer said.Coomer said the arrest was "very unusual," but Somerset police have arrested others for similar violations, such as riding a bicycle and a lawn mower under the influence.

Believe it or not, this is not an isolated event. There have been several other DUI cases around the nation recently that involve people riding horses, lawnmowers, golf carts or bicycles under the influence. In Kansas, you have to be driving a “motor vehicle” to be charged under the state statute. However, cities are free to make up their own laws that will apply to their city. The City of Wichita has a law against riding a bicycle under the influence of alcohol. The penalties are exactly the same as for driving a car under the influence. See, CITY OF WICHITA v. HACKETT, 275 Kan. 848 (2003)

The laws against a person driving a car while drunk are good laws. Being intoxicated while behind the wheel of a car puts the drunk driver, his or her passengers and everyone else on the road in danger because cars are heavy hunks of metal that can be moved at fast speeds. I completely understand why it is prohibited (how impairment is determined or how the law is enforced are different subjects). But, I cannot understand why we need laws that prohibit people from riding horses or bicycles while intoxicated. While it is possible, remotely, that a drunken bicyclist could create a hazard on the road, you cannot cause much damage with a bicycle, except maybe to yourself. Bicycling certainly does not pose the risk to the motoring public that driving a car does. These laws apparently exist to protect people from their own stupidity, which is a questionable role for government to play.

I would prefer that police officers spend their time preventing crime and enforcing laws that protect people from dangerous individuals and activities. I would also rather that people in Wichita, or other cities, ride their bikes to and from the bars instead of drive cars. If you make the penalties the same, people have little incentive to choose the lesser of the two evils. Public policy should dictate that riding a bike under the influence is nowhere nearly as dangerous as driving a car in that condition and, as such, it should be legal or the penalties should reflect the greatly minimized danger to the public that it represents. For now, though, you had better think twice before you mount your horse, bicycle or lawnmower after you’ve had something to drink.

Legal Limits for Drugs?

A bill currently sits before the Judiciary Committee of the Kansas legislature which would change the nature of the DUI laws in Kansas in a drastic way. It is anybody’s guess right now as to whether the bill will ultimately pass or die. Personally, I expect it to pass - if not this year then in the near future.

Currently, the law is that if your breath, blood or urine contains .08 grams of alcohol it is presumed that you are too impaired to drive a car. Senate Bill 287 would change the DUI statute, KSA 8-1567(a) to set “legal limits” for the amount of drugs a person may have in his or her blood or urine and operate a vehicle. These amounts are expressed in nanograms. The legal limit for marijuana is one (1) nanogram! That is, if you are stopped while driving and your blood contains even 1 nanogram of marijuana (or THC), it is PRESUMED that you are too intoxicated to drive, just as if your breath alcohol content was .08 or greater. The legal limit for cocaine would be 50 nanograms, 500 nanograms for methamphetamine, and 150 nanograms for codeine.

One of the major controversies surrounding legal limits for drugs is that, whereas alcohol dissipates from the human body very quickly, traces of drug use linger in the body long after the impairment from the drug has worn off. Marijuana can remain in the system for weeks, and cocaine for days. There is a danger that a person who smokes marijuana on Saturday when he is not driving, may still test positive on Monday when he is behind the wheel, even though he is no longer impaired.

Just like alcohol, drugs affect people in different ways. Some people can tolerate a greater amount of a substance without becoming impaired, while others may become impaired after only a small exposure to a drug. There is also the problem of false positives, which are very common in my experience with drug testing. Another major problem is that many PRESCRIPTION and OVER-THE-COUNTER drugs may cause a positive test for substances like amphetamines, codeine or morphine.

Again, we don’t yet know whether this bill will pass and become the law in Kansas. It is already the law in Nevada and about 10 other states. It is the emerging trend in DUI jurisprudence and it is coming. These DUI’s will be treated and punished just like alcohol related DUI’s. Everyone will count for life. It will take extremely educated attorneys and the assistance of experts to properly defend these cases. For more information about drug impaired driving enforcement and the future of the law in this regard see “The Gathering Storm: Drug Recognition and Zero Tolerance Laws” page on my website http://www.enhlaw.com/drug_recognition_experts.htm .