Saturday, April 20, 2013

Can a drunk handicapped person, who is operating an electric wheelchair, be charged with a DUI?

Question by sharnajax: Can a drunk handicapped person, who is operating an electric wheelchair, be charged with a DUI?
I know you can get a dui on a bike or skate board, I am just curious. I just happened to see a drunk person opperating an electric wheelchair today. He was all over the place, in the bushes, in the street. I asked him if he wanted help but he said no in a drunken slur. He said his apartment complex was two miles from the bar and he would make it home in his wheelchair. Then he ran in to the curb. I got him up and going again, but he was really weaving.


Best answer:

Answer by lc_firefighter
yes



Add your own answer in the comments!

8 comments:

  1. He can be charged with public intoxication.

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  2. if he's in his yard driving his wheelchair, i think so, because you can get a dui or pi i forget which for driving a lawn mower drunk too lol

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  3. hmm that's a good question i have often thought about that also, and i think that they should be charged with a DUI if they are drunk but I'm sure there is some law around it

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  4. No, just public intoxication. a wheelchair,unlike a motr vehickle, cant kill anyone.

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  5. yes, and he could kill someone, i have seen weirder things,

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  6. LOL...That's out of line!

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  7. yes dont even have to be electric they can get dui on ant thing with wheels at least in ohio

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  8. yes they can, and do. I'm in a wheelchair, and they're not as easy to operate as you may think. You don't get instructions with them. Thus:holes in my walls from learning. I don't slur anymore, but I did right after my stroke. I've been called a drunk, and was made fun of when I ran into things. The fact is that I get eye migraines and can barely see sometimes, but I don't drink. Before my illness I drove school buses, city basses, semi trucks, and access buses for the handicapped. Maybe the guy didn't get a DUI because he passed the Breathalyzer test. You may have just assumed he was drunk because he was weaving, talked funny, and there was a bar close by. Even if he had been drinking, it doesn't mean he was drunk. If you thought he was, you could have called the cops and let them decide.

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