News

PUII (poo-ee) Pedaling Under the Influence of Intoxicants Carries Serious Consequences

Cycle-friendly Oregon leverages penalties and takes legal action against intoxicated summer cyclists

Portland, Ore. (Aug, 2010) – Driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII) is an offense committed when a driver operates a vehicle while impaired by the consumption of alcohol, drugs, or other intoxicants. In Oregon, as in the rest of the United States, drunk driving is the single largest cause of motor vehicle related fatalities. According to the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles, almost 40 percent of all fatalities in traffic accidents are the result of driver impairment by drugs or alcohol.

According to the Oregon Department of Transportation Crash Analysis and Reporting Unit, over the last five years, 100 bicycle crashes involving alcohol were recorded in Oregon. Eighty-six of these resulted in injury and twelve were fatal, with five of these fatalities occurring in the last year alone. This increase in fatal accidents demonstrates the increasing importance of public awareness of this problem.

The PUII law applies to adult cyclists, as well as minors whose parents are also responsible when their teen has been convicted of a PUI. Otherwise, the legal consequences of a PUI are no different from those of a DUI, and include losing your license to drive.

Pedaling Under the Influence has the same consequences as Driving Under the Influence, and a conviction carries with it the same fines and criminal charges as operating a traditional motorized vehicle. “But it’s worse than that,” Attorney Adam Greenman says, “because the danger of serious physical injury is much greater for a cyclist than for a driver behind the wheel.” In addition, impaired biking can be an indirect cause of serious calamity for other drivers who must take evasive action to avoid colliding with a drunken cyclist who could also end up crashing into a pedestrian.

A popular website, with thousands of weekly views by Oregon cycling fans, is pdxcyclingonline.com. The site is only one of several cycling websites packed with information, and listing dozens of cyclist-friendly watering holes where cyclists can park, drink, and swap stories. A drive past one of these Portland locations on a warm summer night demonstrates their incredible popularity with bike racks overflowing, and a cycling crowd that often spills onto the sidewalk. Good clean fun? Not always.

A 2010 study in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine of adult bicycle accident victims presenting to a regional trauma center over a 1-year period demonstrated that alcohol use showed a strong correlation with head injury, and impaired riders were less experienced, less likely to have medical insurance, rarely wore helmets, were more likely to ride at night, and their hospital charges were double those of other non-impaired riders.

For more information, to schedule a lecture or to reach Adam Greenman, contact his office at (503) 227-3800 weekdays 9 a.m. – 5 p.m, or on the web at adam@adamgreenmanlaw.com.