Man 'drunk in charge of wheelchair'

[Tonto]

June 23, 2008 11:42am

[/b]MOTORISTS had to swerve to avoid a man asleep at the controls of a motorised wheelchair on a north Queensland highway.[/b]

Police who breath-tested him allegedly found him to be six times the legal blood alcohol limit.

Police found the 64-year-old man asleep in his wheelchair in a turning lane on the Captain Cook Highway at Stratford north of Cairns on Friday morning.

Passing police noticed him slumped in the wheelchair and stopped to help.

They breathalysed him when they smelt alcohol on him.

He allegedly blew .301, more than six times the legal limit.

He told police he was going 14km to Trinity Beach to visit a friend, most of it on the four-lane highway.

"We'll allege he placed himself in a very dangerous situation," police spokesman Bob Waters said.

"People should be aware that drink-driving laws cover these kinds of vehicles, but also others like horses and bicycles.

The man will appear in Cairns Magistrates Court on July 7.

 

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23907003-5001028,00.html?from=public_rss

[Vitamin G]

God, i couldn't hit a .301 now, much less at his age.   

[BuddhaBill]

God, i couldn't hit a .301 now, much less at his age.   

My dad once blew .45 , Passed the field sobriety and only got him on the breathalyzer . Insanity! He also has had 12 DUI's

[MK 199]

There is a kid that goes to college at the same school as me that got a DWI on his motorized wheelchair coming home from the bars but he was on the sidewalkd...supposedly he has to have someone push him.  I have seen him driving it around campus and that thing goes slower than most people walk so I dont know why they busted him unless he was about to go off into the road or something.

 

[Vitamin G]

I heard a news story a long time ago about the bureaucrats in california picked a bum off the street for driving a bicycle intoxicated.   His licence was suspended, but he didn't have a licence, so the State of California paid for drivers ed, driving lessons, and a rental car so that he could pass the drivers exam, all so that they could revoke his licence.

I wouldn't believe it, but the story DID say California!