Thursday, March 11, 2010

Bicycling Under the Influence

In Oregon, "pedaling under the influence" can get you arrested, at least, something like that according to the Oregonian.  Here's the story:

Bicycling on a dark state highway without a helmet or a light in the middle of the night was bad enough. But police say Timothy Brett Crawford's biggest mistake was having too much booze before getting on his bike Wednesday night.Crawford, 43, of Estacada was cited for biking under the influence of alcohol after he was found unconscious on Oregon 224.

The bicyclist apparently crashed while riding along the highway east of Estacada. State Police Trooper Ryan Tellier found Crawford unconscious in the westbound lane about 9:17 p.m. and called LifeFlight to fly the man to a Portland hospital. Police say there was no evidence that Crawford was struck by a vehicle. His bicycle had no lighting equipment and he was not wearing a helmet, said OSP Lt. Gregg Hastings.After Crawford arrived by LifeFlight at Legacy Emanuel Hospital & Medical Center, emergency room doctors found no obvious injuries. A preliminary blood test showed a 'dramatically high' alcohol level in the cyclist, police said."
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Sounds to me like they didn't catch him pedaling, they caught him unconscious. 

Actually, Portland is as close as you can get to bicycling nirvana this side of Copenhagen.

2 comments:

  1. Well, as a law student at W&L, we would leave bars in fear of getting arrested for "drunk in public," merely for attempting to walk home. Horrible

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  2. I can remember trying to ride a bike while I was drinking some 30 years ago--total mistake. Hell I had a hard time with gross motor when I drank, let alone operate anything that required steering and seeing.

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