Lawnmower DUI...

While surfing the news and the strange and odd this morning I came upon one of the gems of the net, “Man Charged With Drunk Driving On Lawn Mower”. It seems a gentlemen in Ohio who already had two prior arrests for DUI had been tossing down a few and then decided it would be nice to go outside, mount his 20 HP riding lawn mower and cut his front lawn.

That was all well and good as long as he had curtailed his driving to the private property of his own front lawn, but this poor guy decided to drive his lawnmower on the sidewalk. Big mistake as the law specifies all it takes to be charged with driving under the influence is physical control of a vehicle, any vehicle albeit car, bicycle or in his case a lawnmower.

The article stated that just before 10:00 pm Friday, an officer saw the 50-year-old male driving on the sidewalk along a road in Vermilion, Ohio, subsequently stopped him and after detecting the odor of alcohol administered a field sobriety test, which the gentlemen failed and subsequently placed under arrest for DUI.

The male in question is of course denying the incident and the fact that he was operating the lawnmower on the sidewalk and it is evident he has never seen the television show Cops, if he had he would have known that officers have dash cam video mounted in their patrol cars and this guy is their newest star.

I can only imagine the outcome had a pursuit ensued while the office was attempting to stop the lawnmower; the chase would have reached speeds in excess of 5 MPH as lines were mowed in all the lawns of the neighborhood.

Important Information to remember:

People tend to forget or simply do not have knowledge that all it takes to be charged with DUI is physical control of a vehicle, any vehicle, it does not matter if the vehicle is not even moving; you are intoxicated or under the control of drugs and sitting in the drivers seat with keys in hand, you are guilty. By the way, that includes any drugs including over-the-counter medications that would impair the driver’s ability to operate a vehicle such as Benadryl, (Diphenhydramine) antihistamine allergy medication. It is a good idea to make it a habit to read the adverse effects on the box when taking any over-the-counter medication and operating any vehicle.