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in some place drunk riding a bike might have similar repercussions [incl. criminal charges above certain levels].
by xxs 10y ago
in some place drunk riding a bike might have similar repercussions [incl. criminal charges above certain levels].
- zer0tonin 10y agoIt's harder to kill someone on a bike tho.
- pluma 10y agoDirectly? Yes. Indirectly? No. You're still posing a traffic hazard.
- alkonaut 10y agoI'd say the risk of killing someone or causing an incident is much lower when riding drunk on a bike than in a car. To cause a major accident while drunk on a bike (that doesn't only involve yourself) you need an unfortunate chain of events such as a car avoiding you and running into someone else. For starters, I can usually go most places by bike without doing it on the same roads as cars. (I know that's rarely the case in the US though). If that's not possible, and you are so drunk you can't ride a bike (I can certainly ride a bike safer than a car while drunk simply because the speed is much slower so the reaction times are longer) - then leave the bike too. Walk or get a cab.
- usrusr 10y agoCollege years have provided me with both first and second person anecdotal evidence that cycling can have a higher incapability threshold than walking. That's for the motor control parts at least. Situational awareness is an entirely different story though. In the dead of night traffic is on easy mode, where you notice the indirect illumination of a car's headlights around two corners and hear them from a mile away. That's just not very challenging (and probably plays a large role in the seemingly universal pattern of more drunk driving in rural areas, unfortunately cars come with an incredible amount of risk compensation through speed). Broad daylight city cycling on the other hand I consider a bad idea even at BAC levels well within the legal limits for driving cars (speaking of Germany here, where in terms of fines, cycling is tolerated at twice the BAC level as driving, a reasonable compromise)
- adrianN 10y agoI guess if you're drunk driving at ~10mph the reduced reaction time isn't as important as when you're doing forty.
- pluma 10y agoExcept when you're driving at night without lights and are too buzzed to pay attention to traffic. Road traffic relies on cooperation between the participants. If you can't pull your own weight (i.e. follow traffic laws, control your vehicle, etc), you don't belong on the road. Also it's not about yourself. Sure, if you kill yourself in an accident on a bicycle you're less likely to injure somebody else but you're still inflicting all kinds of harm on others.
- xxs 10y agobesides yourself running into cars, that try to avoid you... and run into someone else...
- gambiting 10y agoIn Poland riding a bike while drunk results in losing your driving licence.
- TomMarius 10y agoOnly if you're caught driving it on the road.
- askvictor 10y agoAnd if you don't have a driver's licence?
- gambiting 10y agoSee, this is where the intention of the law sort of falls apart - because in that case, you are only given a fine. So the punishment is disproportional towards people who have a driving licence. People who don't have one are punished a lot less for the exact same offence.
- pm90 10y agoI think you already know this but: laws, like life, are unfair (well, Judicial Laws. Only the laws of nature are truly impartial).
- feintruled 10y agoThis reminds me of the old joke about the preacher. He is giving it the full fire and brimstone treatment, shouting that in hell there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth at the eternal punishment. One cheeky young lad asks, "But what if you have no teeth?" The preacher roars back "Teeth will be PROVIDED!"
- alkonaut 10y agoSame in Sweden. It's not so much riding the bike though - you can actually lose it by just being drunk walking too.
- 10y ago