# DUI, but RUI? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 23, 2009, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dui-but-rui/482732 "2009-01-23T23:28:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dui-but-rui/482732/21 "2009-01-26T00:16:59Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I am pretty sure in NC you can get ticketed for driving a boat while drunk. I grew up on a lake in NC, and boating safety was required in school. You can. In Arizona, you can get one on a horse, but not a bicycle. This is nice for me, to some extent, because I have a lot of bars, restaurants, and friends’ houses within riding distance, but I don’t really want to ride trashed. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dui-but-rui/482732/22 "2009-01-26T04:57:12Z")
If ever a D.U.I. is not an acceptable charge, a cop can always get ya for public intoxication. Best bet when drunk, is to walk…quietly. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dui-but-rui/482732/23 "2009-01-26T06:33:19Z")
> [@bobo t](#): > > If ever a D.U.I. is not an acceptable charge, a cop can always get ya for public intoxication. Best bet when drunk, is to walk…quietly. Public intoxication is not against the law every where. In New Jersey there is no public intoxication law. As long as your behavior does not become disorderly conduct you will not be arrested. There may be some local ordinances which cover it but there is no state statute. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2009, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dui-but-rui/482732/24 "2009-01-26T07:16:56Z")
> [@bobo t](#): > > If ever a D.U.I. is not an acceptable charge, a cop can always get ya for public intoxication. Best bet when drunk, is to walk…quietly. Or to have your horse fitted with Reeboks. I’d be surprised if many places had laws against RUI, thinking that the horse itself has the sense to avoid most hazards. On the other hand, when National Prohibition came into force in 1920, there was still enough horse-powered traffic to include wagons and carriages among the possible conveyances, used for transporting booze, that could become subject to forfeiture if the owner was caught. Not exactly the same thing, though. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dui-but-rui/482732/25 "2009-01-30T23:48:00Z")
[Man fined £185 for being drunk in charge of horse](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4400618/Man-fined-185-for-being-drunk-in-charge-of-horse.html) > [@](#): > > CPS David Thompson said: "It is not a charge you see every day. The police had concerns about him and, in the process of speaking to him, became aware of his intoxication. > > "The concerns were that he was in control of a large animal where there were other road users. > > “There are no definite parameters for this offence, but it is clear that he was drunk.” ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dui-but-rui/482732/26 "2009-01-30T23:57:32Z")
They patrol the lakes in Wisconsin to arrest drunk boat operators, and they will arrest you for being in the control of any transportation on the roadways. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dui-but-rui/482732/27 "2009-01-31T03:55:20Z")
> [@MeDrewNotYou](#): > > Unverified anecdote time! :eek: > > My dad has told me that when he was younger and worked on a ranch, he would take a horse the few miles into town to the bar where he would drink. When the time came to head back home, he’d get up on the horse and hold on tight, guiding the horse in the general direction of home. The horse would make its way back to the ranch safely and my dad wouldn’t have to worry about a DUI. This all allegedly happened in rural South Dakota about 35-45yrs ago. > > I’m not really sure if the old man is BS-ing me about this, I don’t find it too unlikely that, once put the rough direction home, the horse could make it home. But it would seem mounting/dismounting and putting a horse away while drunk would be a major hassle. So I see it as a tossup, but I’d lean towards him just enjoying pulling my ‘city-boy’ leg. Your dad was not BS-ing you. I ride horses regularly, sometimes through forests and along logging roads after dark. Horses have excellent night vision and a keen ability to return “home”. SOP if you get disoriented while horse riding after dark is to relax, loosen the reins and let the horse do as he will. Even if he is “aimed” in the wrong direction, he’ll turn right around and head home. Just don’t get in too big of a hurry. Galloping drunk is, uh, a **bad** idea! (How I know this is another story.) Dismounting and getting the tack off of a horse isn’t complicated for those who do it frequently. Being drunk wouldn’t be as much of a problem as it might seem. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dui-but-rui/482732/28 "2009-02-03T18:41:19Z")
> [@Gfactor](#): > > Here’s a story about a guy who was charged with reckless driving (of a horse and carriage) and intoxication in 1899. [The New York Times - Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos](http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9402E0D8173DE433A25752C3A9649D94689ED7CF) > > If you search on Google news, you’ll see listings for some pay-to-view articles describing arrests for driving a horse while intoxicated from 1929 on. You know, I really think that’s some of the best reporting I’ve seen in a long time. A thorough, dispassionate treatment of the facts of the case, without recourse to comparing unrelated events or personal opinions or characterizations. I wish we had a few reporters like that now. . . or a few editors who would approve such a story! ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dui-but-rui/482732/29 "2009-02-03T18:44:41Z")
> [@MeDrewNotYou](#): > > Unverified anecdote time! :eek: > > My dad has told me that when he was younger and worked on a ranch, he would take a horse the few miles into town to the bar where he would drink. When the time came to head back home, he’d get up on the horse and hold on tight, guiding the horse in the general direction of home. The horse would make its way back to the ranch safely and my dad wouldn’t have to worry about a DUI. This all allegedly happened in rural South Dakota about 35-45yrs ago. > > I’m not really sure if the old man is BS-ing me about this, I don’t find it too unlikely that, once put the rough direction home, the horse could make it home. But it would seem mounting/dismounting and putting a horse away while drunk would be a major hassle. So I see it as a tossup, but I’d lean towards him just enjoying pulling my ‘city-boy’ leg. My Grandmother ws a schoolteacher in a small Georgia town. She got on a horse bareback each morning, and rode it in to school. Then she gave it a slap on the haunch and the horse went back home where the housekeeper would have put out its grain. In the afternoon, before she left, the housekeeper would let him back out of the field, and give him another slap to send him back to get GrandMa. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dui-but-rui/482732/30 "2009-02-03T19:54:57Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I am pretty sure in NC you can get ticketed for driving a boat while drunk. > > On a related note, a while back I read that 50% of all people who drown are drunk. [Alcohol-related Boating Accidents](http://www.statemaster.com/graph/trn_rec_boa_acc_alc_rel_percap-accidents-alcohol-related-per-capita). Alaska tops the list. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dui-but-rui/482732/31 "2009-02-03T20:29:37Z")
President Pierce trampled an old lady to death while on horseback - the charges against him were later quietly dropped. A few years after leaving office he died of liver failure from years of incredibly heavy drinking. I’m not saying he was drunk when he was on that horse, but from the sounds of it it would have been noteworthy were he sober. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dui-but-rui/482732.md?page=1)