An odd story came out of North Carolina this morning where a 51-year-old man was charged with DWI after police caught him riding his bicycle while intoxicated. But don't expect to see any similar stories out of New Jersey, where the DWI laws are not so broadly applied.
Contrary to what may be the case in other parts of the country, New Jersey's DWI law does not apply to bicyclists. But, to state the obvious, the practice could still result in trouble.
New Jersey's DWI statute specifically applies to motor vehicles. The statute defines a motor vehicle as "all vehicles propelled otherwise than by muscular power. . ." Clearly that would exclude bicyclists. Yet in 1988 a Montgomery Township municipal court judge convicted a man of DWI for bicycling while drunk. The defendant appealed and in State v. Machuzak, a Somerset County judge threw out the conviction. In reversing the conviction, the judge wrote that it was "abundantly clear" that the statute was "not intended to apply to non-motorized pedal-type bicycles."
It may seem obvious, but it's worth stating: common sense dictates that bicycling while drunk is never a good idea. In addition to risking personal injury, it could result in other related charges such as disorderly conduct. And getting drunk in public often leads to other far more serious offenses like assault.
