If a person with an electric wheelchair goes out drinking, could they get a DUI?

Answer 1

Lmfao! Where do you come up with this stuff?

Answer 2

People can get a DUI if they are riding a bike. I actually learned that in class after I got a speeding ticket. A wheelchair should be no different. Except the fact that it is how a person gets from A to B, like you and I do by walking. If we get drunk and then walk in the street and cause an accident, we will be arrested. If you or the wheelchair bound person does anything that can cause harm while impaired, then that person will get a ticket, or arrested. Considering of course that they are caught.

Answer 3

NO, but I'm sure some cop out there will try to give you a ticket. Using a wheelchair does not come under the licensing privilages afforded by a drivers license as no drivers license is required for a wheelchair, but they can give you fines or tickets that would apply to any pedestrian as the wheelchair substitutes the place of that person's legs. An example would be public intoxication.
to the one in pa. they are able to get out of being ticketed in pa as it only applies to any vehicle that is licensable, that is that it requires a license plate on said motorized vehicle and needs a drivers license to operate and a wheelchair or bicycle does not fit that criteria. it is not befitting after 3 offences for an impaired individual to be desciminated against and sent to jail for mandatory prison time because they cannot walk. the police have gone beyond their legal bounds and should be fought.
different states have different laws though so check with your state police.

Answer 4

Yes, It happened to a friend of mine in Mississippi.
The cops stopped him, put him in the back of their unit & get this, called a wrecker to bring in the electric wheelchair. It happened in front of my house when we lived in Gulfport.
It was the funniest thing I'd ever seen.

Answer 5

i'm not sure, but i think you can with any wheelchair just like a push bike. remember that it's just like if we take our car somewhere we're expected to leave it behind and get a cab, same thing just a wheelchair will fit in a special taxi and the operator wouldn't have to go get it the next day..

Answer 6

Well as ridiculous as it sounds, the answer to that here in Pennsylvania, is yes. No I am not kidding, we already had two people with electric wheel chairs lose their right to ride it publicly because of being drunk. Now not too sure of other states but in Pennsylvania yes.

Answer 7

No because the chair doesn't have enough power to qualify it as a motor vehicle. In Germany, people used to drive lawnmowers to the restaurants for lunch and get drunk because they knew they wouldn't get a DUI in a lawnmower.

OK...it seems I'm wrong on that one...I stand corrected frogprincess2. :-)

My cousin is legally blind and once joked that he was going to get arrest for CWI, caning while intoxicated.

Answer 8

They sure can. They can even get one with a non-electric wheelchair.

Answer 9

They could and have.
There was a story on the news about that within the last few weeks.
Here is a link that chronicles just such a case:

http://www.ridl.us/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=195

Answer 10

No, but they could get quite a few dirty looks from running over peoples' toes all the time

Answer 11

Anythings possible. Our friend, who's in a non motorized wheel chair, was cited for reckless driving because he was going too fast.