Yikes! That sounds awful. There is a MA law that protects cyclists in that type of situation. Send me an email and we can set up a time to talk about it.

-Josh

PS: For questions like this, about a specific case or situation, it’s definitely better to email me.  I’d be happy to write a post on the subject, it’s just that attorney client confidentiality does not attach if I answer such questions publicly.

I want to preface my answer to this question by stating, clearly and unequivocally, that biking while drunk is incredibly dangerous. DO NOT DO IT!

Ok, now that that’s out of the way, here’s the story:

Many states have enacted specific legislation that makes it illegal to ride a bike under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

For example, in California (where the above illustration was first used), section 21200.5 of the vehicle code states that “it is unlawful for any person to ride a bicycle upon a highway while under the influence of an alcoholic beverage or any drug, or under the combined influence of an alcoholic beverage and any drug.”

A number of other states have chosen not to make drunk biking specifically illegal, and instead apply their existing impaired driving laws to cyclists.

Section 813.010 of the Oregon Revised Statutes, for example, states that it is unlawful if “a person commits the offense of driving while under the influence of intoxicants if the person drives a vehicle while the person: (a) Has .08 percent or more by weight of alcohol in the blood… (b) Is under the influence of intoxicating liquor, a controlled substance or an inhalant; or (c) Is under the influence of any combination of intoxicating liquor, an inhalant and a controlled substance.” [emphasis mine]

Although it doesn’t specifically mention riding a bicycle while drunk, this statute can be applied to cyclists through section 814.400, which says, in part, that “when the term ‘vehicle’ is used the term shall be deemed to be applicable to bicycles.”

Massachusetts follows neither approach. Under MA law, drunk biking is neither a distinct offense, nor a crime punishable under our drunk driving statute.

While our laws do give bikes all the rights and responsibilities of vehicles, as I explained in this post, our drunk driving law is worded differently than Oregon’s, and, as is often the case with statutes, the wording makes all the difference.

Under Chapter 90 § 24 of the Massachusetts General Laws, it is illegal to operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.  Section one of that chapter defines “motor vehicle” as “all vehicles constructed and designed for propulsion by power other than muscular power.”  It goes on to say that the definition does not include motorized bicycles.

So there you have it. If you ride your bike drunk in Massachusetts, you cannot be arrested for drunk driving, even if you’ve outfitted your bicycle with a motor. You can still be taken into protective custody, but you won’t be charged with any crime.

In case you were wondering, I don’t think that drunk biking needs to be made illegal in MA. As I mentioned before, riding a bike while drunk is a terrible idea — however, if you’re foolish enough to do it, you’re really only risking your own life. Unlike drunk drivers, your potential risk to society is quite low.

Also, enforcing such a law would be incredibly problematic. Apart from the obvious question of how the police would determine who they should stop (“I only swerved to avoid that pothole, officer, I swear!”), a drunk biking law would provide a ready means for officers to detain pretty much anyone they see riding a bike.

In poorer communities, where people of color are already subjected to increased scrutiny and harassment by police, “biking while intoxicated” would become one more pretext for an otherwise unlawful seizure.

To me, the trivial benefit of such a law is far outweighed by its potential for abuse.

Yours,
Josh

Hey Kristen,

You’re welcome!  We actually have a Michigan card all designed and ready to go.  Our sponsor committed, we uploaded the files to the printer, but it’s been a while and I haven’t heard from him.  I think it’s safe to say that he’s no longer interested.  Send me an email and we’ll figure out how to get this thing made!

Yours,

Josh

Email me or give me a call, my number is at the bottom of the page.  I’d be happy to help you out.

As a side note: for specific questions like this, it’s always better to send me an email, or include your email address in the question. Tumblr only lets me answer these questions as posts, so I may be hesitant to do so if I’ve got another article coming.

Urban AdvenTours Boston Bike Film Fest Tour (10/25/09)

Unlike Lovely Bicycle, I’m not a photographer, so nearly all of the pictures on this blog come from Flickr.

I have the following two considerations in mind when I’m deciding which picture to use for a post (in order of priority):

1. The picture must somehow depict the topic of the article. It seems pretty obvious, but you’d be surprised how difficult it can be to find a good looking picture of “bike theft.”
2. Whenever possible, I try to use pictures of women riding bikes.  Men are overrepresented in the cycling community, and I think of this as doing my part to change that.  Biking is for everybody—that’s what makes it so great!

As you can probably imagine, limiting my search to Boston would make this already tricky task nearly impossible.

Also, despite the name, this site isn’t just about biking in Boston.  I’m a MA-licensed attorney, and I’m always happy to answer questions about Massachusetts law, but I realized early on that my focus should be more broad.  In fact, most days, the majority of my readers are from California, New York, or Oregon.  I try to keep that in mind when writing the more general posts.

Incidentally, if anyone out there wants to take some bikey pictures around Boston for me to use, go nuts.  I’d love to show off how great this town is for biking!  There may even be something in it for you if I end up using a photo you send in…

Yours,
Josh

IMAGE via flickr

There is currently no law against it, but, as I noted in this post, it’s not a very good idea to compromise your hearing on the road.  States like California do have laws that prohibit riding with headphones over both ears.  However, most anti-headphone laws (including California’s)permit cyclists to listen to music while they ride, as long as it’s only in one ear.

Oof, that sucks, sorry to hear it. Unfortunately, there isn’t really anything you can do about that sort of thing. I mean, you could report him to the police for making criminal threats, but that would probably not go anywhere. Since you weren’t injured and he was only yelling at you (rather than chasing you/swinging at you/throwing things), there’s not much more the police could go after him for.

However, if this had taken place in Los Angeles, CA, it would be a whole different story. That’s because the LA City Council just passed an ordinance that makes it a crime for motorists to harass bikers. The law would allow you to sue for three times your actual damages in civil court, as well as attorney’s fees and court costs. If the harassment was especially bad, the court can also award punitive damages (money beyond what your damages are worth, intended as a punishment to the defendant). Wes High, LA resident and the winner of my One Good Earbud giveaway, may be seeking relief under this ordinance after a similar incident.

While I think it’s great that bikers in LA are now protected by this new law, I’m actually glad that we don’t have that sort of thing here. Unlike in Boston, the drivers in LA really aren’t used to sharing the roads with bikes. Most don’t know that bikers have the right to the full lane, or that they have to yield to cyclists as they would for other cars. Take a look at Wes’s helmet cam videos, you’ll see what I mean. LA drivers just aren’t used to dealing with bikes in traffic when they drive. The bikers out there needed some sort of deterrent on their side to level the playing field a bit, and this is what they came up with.

As impressive a step as that is, I’m kinda proud that despite the less than stellar reputation of our drivers, Boston has yet to deem such legislation necessary. Drivers here may not always check before turning right or opening their door, but at least they probably know that they should.

Yours,
Josh

Shirts are on the way (they’re currently being made), more about them soon. They just may be something like this.

As for writing about lights, I did! It was my first real post. I do, however, want to review and give away a pair of the fantastic lights I picked up after the pothole incident last week. They’re from Portland Design Works, and in my opinion, they’re the best small lights you can get. If PDW wants to donate a couple for me to give away, that would be swell. If not, I’ll pick up some more from my pal Emily at Hub Bicycle in Cambridge (pro tip: she sells them for less than PDW’s website).

Thanks for the question!

Yours,
Josh