a friend and myself were pulled over about a month ago at 2am on a saturday morning in north melbourne for rolling through a couple of reds. the cop spoke to us separately so when he came to me and said “and have you had a bit to drink as well?” i thought crap, i hope he’s not trying to stitch us up. i told him “i’ve hads a couple offishhher” and he was cool with it.
got let off with a warning. lucky coz it was the weekend before all the crackdowns started. could’ve been very out of pocket for our efforts!
but i ride home pissed waaaaaaaay too often. each morning i wake up knowing my bike’s in the shed and feel a little guilty. i know i shouldn’t but it’s just so convenient and easy…
deemed to be “in effective control of the vehicle”
(which has a very specific meaning, not the same as “controlling the vehicle effectively”)
Whether you get pinged for that (or riding pissed) pretty much depends on:
a) how rat-arsed you are;
b) the mood of the Jacks on the day; and/or
c) how much 'tude you give them
I rode drunk once. As I left a party I heard someone call out “Do a wheelie” so I popped it up… and up and over. I fell straight on the ground on my ass and elbow.
My elbow hasn’t been the same since and my tailbone was bruised heavily. I was scraped off the road winded and cursing my shit skills. The bike was picked up, chucked in the back of a ute and I was given a lift home. It just so happens it was the last time I was pissed as well.
I was under the impression, and i am fairly sure it is correct, that if you are riding a bike/ shopping trolley/ horse or donkey on the road, you are subject to the same drink driving laws a vehicle driver is, and would be charged the same as if you were driving a car.
Yeah my godmother actually got caught ‘cycling under the influence’ in perth a few years ago and lost 2 points as well as a couple of hundreds. T’was the same fine as if she’d been driving.
during a recent drink driving course i attended a point was made by the doctor in charge, that anyone using the roads is subject to drink driving laws no matter what mode of transport.
I asked if a horse would count for laughs, and he said it indeed does.
Of course you are much less likely to be breath tested on a bike/ horse, but be aware if you do have to blow into the bag on your bike if asked to, you can loose your ticket just the same as you would in a car.
I’ve been told that its the same as driving laws, if your over .05 then you lose points off your car licence and fined accordingly. The only difference (this is for VIC) is that you don’t need to be over 21 to drink and ride, only need to be legal age to drink.
i had a house warming party earlier this year and one of my mates was so drunk he could barely stand.
his house was a good 11km away so we told him to catch a taxi or get picked up
next thing we know he was gone and his bike was missing
we called him the nex morning and he had hit a white picket fence around the corner from my house completely bending his forks backwards and landed on his face.
he barely left his house for a few weeks cause his face was so fucked up.
several years back, i got pissed and a little stoned and rode 20 k’s in the opposite direction to home before I realised it.Totally devastated I rang the wife to pick me up.This was Christmas eve and she was not happy.No wobbling or falling off, just a total lack directional awareness. :roll:
i’d assume it to be like red lights etc. you are treated the same as a car driver (see numerous red light threads on here.)
as for not having a drivers licence… well if you have any form of id they can still send you the fine and if you get ticketed again i believe it stays in the system. unpaid fines can get ugly when you get police checks later
if your licence is from overseas then you (probably) wont lose any points.
