You Can't Arrest Me For DUI, I'm On My Horse!

[Tuckerfan]

Oh, yes they can!

A man has been cited for public intoxication while riding a white horse during a snowstorm in the northern Wyoming town of Cody.

Police say they cited 28-year-old Benjamin Daniels after they received a call Sunday afternoon from a motorist concerned that a man was creating a road hazard by riding his horse on a street in conditions with poor visibility.

A white horse in a snowstorm? Yeesh. Why didn’t the guy just throw himself in front of traffic? Probably would have been safer.

[Pleonast]

Public intoxication is not drunk driving, because a horse is not a vehicle.

Could someone be arrested for drunk driving if the horse they’re riding is intoxicated?

[Tuckerfan]

@Pleonast

Public intoxication is not drunk driving, because a horse is not a vehicle.

Yes, well, that makes for a much less catchy thread title, though.

Could someone be arrested for drunk driving if the horse they’re riding is intoxicated?

Animal cruelty is my guess as to what they’d get.

[Hi_Neighbor]

@Pleonast

Public intoxication is not drunk driving, because a horse is not a vehicle.

Could someone be arrested for drunk driving if the horse they’re riding is intoxicated?

A horse is not a vehicle, so no.

[Rayne_Man]

In the UK you can be charged with being drunk-in-charge of a horse, a cycle or even a baby.

[Gary_Robson]

@Tuckerfan

A white horse in a snowstorm? Yeesh. Why didn’t the guy just throw himself in front of traffic? Probably would have been safer.

You can drive a white car in a snowstorm. Or a white motorcycle. If he was dressed appropriately himself (hunter’s safety orange?) the color of the horse wouldn’t be so big of an issue.

Personally, I think the issue is that he was on the STREET. When I ride a horse around cars, I try to stay completely clear of traffic lanes. Riding a horse in the street in a snowstorm is as stupid as walking in the street in a snowstorm.

[Hi_Neighbor]

So can you get a speeding ticket for riding a horse 55 MPH in a 25 MPH zone? The American Quarter Horse, the fastest in the world, has been clocked at over 50 MPH.

[Tuckerfan]

@InvisibleWombat

You can drive a white car in a snowstorm. Or a white motorcycle. If he was dressed appropriately himself (hunter’s safety orange?) the color of the horse wouldn’t be so big of an issue.

Personally, I think the issue is that he was on the STREET. When I ride a horse around cars, I try to stay completely clear of traffic lanes. Riding a horse in the street in a snowstorm is as stupid as walking in the street in a snowstorm.

A white car or motorcycle in a snowstorm will generally have its lights on, so even if you have trouble making out the body of the car, you can see the lights. I’ve not seen too many horses outside of a Robert Redford movie that are illuminated.

[E-Sabbath]

Yeah, I came in to say that about the vehicle thing.

[Gfactor]

Definitions of “drunk driving” and “vehicle” vary from place to place.

Alabama, for example:

(81) VEHICLE. Every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, excepting devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks or electric personal assistive mobility devices; provided, that for the purposes of this title, a bicycle or a ridden animal shall be deemed a vehicle, except those provisions of this title, which by their very nature can have no application.

Alabama Legislature (Emphasis added.)

Which explains this news story: “Woman gets DUI — for horseback ride: Alabama resident allegedly used animal to ram a police car at midnight,” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17953259/ (DUI charges can apply even when the vehicle has four legs instead of wheels.)

[Gfactor]

Here’s a thread we did on this recently: DUI, but RUI? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board

[Hello_Again]

@Hi_Neighbor

So can you get a speeding ticket for riding a horse 55 MPH in a 25 MPH zone? The American Quarter Horse, the fastest in the world

Well, you’d have to keep up that speed long enough for the Po-lice to notice you, which isn’t too likely to happen since a Quarter Horse is the fastest horse in the world at the quarter mile (440 yard) distance. A QH would not beat a Thoroughbred at the 1.5 mile distance (avg speed 38 mph), nor an Arabian at the 50 mile distance (avg speed 7 mph).