Pulled Over While Riding Motorized Plastic Beer Cooler, Man Blows 0.16, Loses Driving Privileges
Add a motorized plastic beer cooler to the list of unusual vehicles that have resulted in convictions for drunken driving.
An unlicensed Australian man who purchased one online “for a bit of a giggle” soon found himself facing a serious court case. Christopher Ian Petrie blew a 0.16 on a blood-alcohol test after he was pulled over by police as he was driving the cooler down a public street at about 20 kilometers per hour, reports the Herald Sun.
A lawyer for Petrie said the 23-year-old didn’t realize he was violating any laws by taking the beer cooler on a test drive.
Magistrate John Parker of Noosa Heads Magistrates Court was sympathetic and said he had to research the issue to be sure the beer cooler did, in fact, qualify as a motor vehicle.
Then he sentenced Petrie to a mandatory 9-month license disqualification for drunken driving, plus another month for driving without a license, the newspaper recounts. He also imposed a $500 fine.
Had Petrie been riding a horse, Parker noted, he would have been OK because it isn’t illegal to do so while drunk. (The same rule applies in Montana, as a previous ABAJournal.com post details.)
Hat tip: Fox News
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Motorized Recliner Seized in Drunken-Driving Case Is Auctioned for $3,700”
ABAJournal.com: “Safe-Driving Ad Campaign Helps Clarify: Drunken Horse Riders Comply with DUI Statute”
