Reflections On Bicycling, Drinking and the Law

Anneli Rufus, a writer with the popular Daily Beast website, recently interviewed me on the subject of biking and drinking.  Her full story appears below:

Biking While Drunk

by Anneli Rufus

October 15, 2010 | 10:32pm

As commuting to work by bike gains popularity, are more of us swerving home sloshed after happy hour? Anneli Rufus on riding with a buzz—and what cops are doing about it.

After leaving a San Francisco bar, Tam McGlinchey straddled his bike and headed home. For this dedicated bicycle commuter, cycling felt almost as familiar as walking. And because he adores obscure imported ales, cycling while sloshed felt pretty familiar, too. The city's scenery flashed past. Approaching a road rutted with streetcar channels, McGlinchey told himself: Steer clear. But his reflexes wouldn't obey. His front wheel jammed in the narrow metal groove. He flew off his bike. Asphalt sheered away strips of his skin as he slid.

"That was a wakeup call," he reflects.

The number of Americans commuting by bicycle has soared by 43 percent since 2000—and more than doubled in Milwaukee and in Portland, Oregon, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. So, as more Americans rely on two-wheeled transport to get them to and from work, it stands to reason that many of these newly minted cyclists are biking home drunk. Happy hour, after all, is as happy as ever.

In a sense, biking while drunk seems safer than driving drunk. Bicycles aren't two-ton hunks of steel and glass capable of reaching triple-digit speeds. And drinking and biking have long gone hand in hand. Bike pub crawls are a national institution. Urban-bike manufacturer Traitor Cycles has produced a line of $1,000 commuter bikes emblazoned with Pabst Blue Ribbon logos.

"Bicycle culture has strongly embraced drinking. I suppose it's viewed as a fun thing to do while posing little risk to the general public—far less than drinking and driving, anyway," says Chicago bike-accident attorney Brendan Kevenides.

But as more tipsy cyclists take to the nation's paths, parks, and highway shoulders, will bicycling while drunk go from illicit fun to legitimate public-safety hazard?

Anecdotes run the gamut from simple spills to drunken collisions with large vehicles. After a grad-school group meeting in a Seattle bar, Josh Thompson and a friend were cycling home when his friend sped head-on into a bus. Miraculously, he sustained only minor injuries.

"It was funny," says Thompson, an architectural engineer, "because we'd been drinking. All we could think was: Hey, he's not in bad shape."  Thompson cycles home from bars as a matter of course, "because it's faster than walking, and who can afford to take cabs all the time? By cycling, I feel like I'm doing something beneficial to society, and whatever the risks are, I know they're nominal compared to driving under the influence and possibly killing someone."

Another night after happy hour, Thompson and another pal were cycling home when "I went too fast and ate it on a turn. I fell. Laughing hysterically, my friend decided to spin around in a circle to show off, but in doing so he ate it even harder than I did"—hard enough that he injured his face so badly that he missed an entire week of work.

While drunk drivers menace everyone, "drunk cyclists pose a risk to other bicyclists and to pedestrians. Of course, the drunk bicyclist poses the greatest threat to himself or herself," says Kevenides. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly one-third of the bicyclists killed in U.S. traffic crashes in 2008 had a blood-alcohol content of at least .01 grams per deciliter. Nearly one-fourth had BACs of at least .08 g/dL, the national legal limit.

In Germany, a student caught cycling home intoxicated from a party was fined $700 and banned from riding a bicycle on German streets for 15 years.

A .08 g/dL BAC raises a cyclist's risk of serious or fatal injury by 2,000 percent, according to a study by Johns Hopkins researchers, who found that alcohol impairs riders' ability to maintain balance, navigate in traffic, and perceive hazards, and increases the likelihood of risky behaviors such as riding recklessly and fast. Drunk cyclists, they also found, are less inclined than sober cyclists to wear helmets. (Not Josh Thompson, though: "My helmet is my health-insurance policy," he says earnestly.)

"If you get drunk, throw your bike in the back of a cab, on a bus, or just lock it up and walk home," Kevenides advises. "Operating a bike in an urban setting with drivers who think, wrongly, that you have no right to use the road is tough enough sober. Doing so with your senses dulled from the effects of booze can be quite deadly."

It can also land you behind bars, depending on where you do it. Unlike DUI laws, BUI laws are notoriously hazy and site-specific.  In Vernal, Utah, two years ago, a pair of archeologists cycling home from a bar were pulled over, given sobriety tests, handcuffed, jailed overnight, and charged with driving under the influence. Two months ago, a man in Boulder, Colorado, was arrested for BUI after hitting a car with his bike and trying to run a red light; it was the third such ticket issued in Boulder this year. And in Germany last year, a student caught cycling home intoxicated from a party was fined €500 ($700) and banned from riding a bicycle on German streets for 15 years.

"It is unlawful for any person to ride a bicycle upon a highway while under the influence of an alcoholic beverage," reads California's Vehicle Code; offenders face base fines of $250. Earlier this year, a Washington, D.C. court found that BUI falls under that jurisdiction's DUI law.  But biking while blitzed is technically legal in Illinois. "Our appellate court held in 1995 that the state's DUI statute, which provides for some very stiff penalties, does not apply to cyclists caught biking under the influence," Kevenides says.

"There is certainly a subculture of the bicycling community that celebrates drinking," says California bike-rights advocate Jason Meggs. "I've seen large groups of people drink and ride. They consider it safe, and it's a matter of relative risk: Is someone bicycling while intoxicated more or less likely to get into a collison than someone driving while intoxicated?"

Many bicyclists would say they're less likely to collide, "and I think so too," Meggs says—maybe because, drunk or sober, "bicyclists can see better than drivers. They can hear better. They can stop more quickly."

Meggs, whose UC Berkeley master's degree is in public health with an emphasis on cycling, watched two riders on a recent 300-bike Critical Mass ride fall onto the asphalt when their bikes became enmeshed.

"In the tumble, a brown bottle fell and broke, leaving sharp, curved chunks and shards of glass sticking up like a bed of nails. As the riders picked one another up and dusted themselves free of the glass from what was evidently a beer bottle, a passing cyclist said drily, 'That's why you drink from cans.'  "This illustrates to me how acceptable drinking and bicycling is to some people who presumably wouldn't feel the same way about drinking and driving. A passerby not only doesn't criticize, he advises on how to better drink while bicycling."

But drunk biking has its points, he concedes.  "It surely helps overcome fear of traffic and creates social bonds. In this sense, the dangers of alcohol—itself a toxic swill—and biking under the influence may pale in light of the benefits: a more healthy and sustainable transportation mode emerging against great odds and obstacles.

"To have some crackdown on bicycling and drinking may do much more harm than good in the big picture, however well-intentioned the effort may claim to be. There are few things in the world more important than getting more people to choose and enjoy bicycling at this juncture in human history."

Anneli Rufus is the author of many books, including Party of One: The Loners' Manifesto and the Nautilus Award-winning Stuck: Why We Don't (or Won't) Move On, and the coauthor of still more, including Weird Europe and The Scavengers' Manifesto. In 2006, she won a Society of Professional Journalists award for criticism.

New iPhone Application Helps Bicyclists Plot A Safe Route Through Chicago and Elsewhere

Finally, there is an iPhone application that helps bicyclists map a safe route between two locations in Chicago and other North American cities.  Ride The City's new multi-city app launched today and expands upon the RTC website, started in 2008, allowing cyclists to map bike appropriate routes while out and about.  Much like Google Map's "go by bike" feature (not yet available on the Google Maps iPhone app), Ride The City plots a cycling route that steers bicyclists toward bike lanes, bike paths, greenways and other bike-friendly streets, and away from highways and busy arterial streets.

I downloaded the app to my iPhone and played with it a bit this morning.  It seems pretty good, providing the user with the option of choosing the most direct route, a "safe" route or a "safer" route.  I tapped in my home and office addresses and let the app do its thing.  When I requested the "safer" route, the application offered a fairly goofy, round-about path between my home and office.  However, requesting the "safe" route the app provided the path I would consider the best and safest way to get from home to work.  The application is still learning Chicago though.  For example, the application fails to note that all of Milwaukee Avenue between Chicago Avenue and Armitage has a dedicated bike lane.  In fairness to the developers, however, the app encourages and easily accomodates users' ability to point out errors and offer corrections.  Over time, one would hope that Ride The City will improve.

The application is available in the iTunes app store for $2.99. 

Illinois Senate Bill Would Strengthen Anti-Buzzing Law

The buzz out of Springfield is that Illinois' anti-buzzing statute is about to get a whole lot tougher. Yesterday, the state senate passed a bill amending a statute which already prohibits motor vehicles from passing less than three feet from a bicyclist on a roadway. The bill, introduced in January by Sen. Ira I. Silverstein, makes it a crime for a motorist to pass "unnecessarily close to, toward, or near a bicyclist." A driver may be charged with a felony where violation of the law results in "great bodily harm" or permanent injury. The bill also makes it a crime to throw objects at bicyclists.

The bill has been sent to the Illinois House where it is expected to pass.

Will the passage of this law make cycling on Illinois roads safer? Probably not. But it adds an arrow in the quiver of civil practice attorneys and criminal law enforcement officers when going after drivers who injure bicyclists. Bravo.

Video Shows That "Idaho Stops" Are Common Among Motorists

I have advocated for a change in Illinois law to permit bicyclists to take the "slow and go" approach (sometimes called an "Idaho stop") with regard to stop signs and traffic lights. Presently, bicyclists in our state -- like motor vehicle drivers -- are required to come to a complete stop at traffic control devices. However, as I argued in August, the current state of the law does not reflect how bicyclists should reasonably be expected to operate on roadways, especially in crowded urban settings .

One objection to enacting an Idaho stop law in Illinois is that bicyclists should not receive special treatment. They are indeed treated by our law as "vehicles" and one might argue that all vehicles should be subject to the same rules. The driver may argue, If I have to stop so should Joe bicyclist. That position is not without logic. But in the city, don't motor vehicles usually slow and go themselves; at least at stop signs? The amusing video posted below (which I found at chicagobikeracing.com) reflects how city motor vehicle drivers tend to approach stop signs. I am not suggesting that stop signs be effectively turned into yield signs for motorized traffic. But let's stop pretending that "slow and go" is something radical. We all do it, motorists and bicyclists. I submit that for bicyclists the law should permit this practice. It is much easier for a car, truck or bus to come to a complete stop then proceed forward again. Unlike bicycles they do not rely upon the strength and physical dexterity of the operator to move. Also, bikes do not pose the same hazard to other roadway users and pedestrians that motor vehicles do. The risk of permitting bicyclists to adopt the Idaho stop is far less than permitting cars and trucks to slow and go. Finally, in crowded urban settings bicycle use should be encouraged as a means for getting around. They do not pollute the air and provide significant health benefits for the bicyclist. Permitting the Idaho stop may make the riding experience more pleasant and thereby encourage more folks to peddle to the store and to work.

A Cool and Logical Analysis Of The Motorist Menace

Bicycles are not dangerous. A gentle push of a pedal and a bit of coordination is all that is required to glide serenely forward. Learning to ride one of these simple devices is among the first advanced physical endeavors we humans attempt. Bicycling becomes more complicated, challenging, after we leave the safety of our parents' driveways and the untrafficked peace of the sidewalk. When the bicyclist ventures onto the road -- as he or she must -- cycling becomes a little scary. Our streets were made for motorized traffic, not self propelled traffic. The laws that govern how our streets and roadways are to be shared were written with motor vehicular traffic in mind, not bikes. The attitude of the driver has formed within the context that history. This is mine, thinks the driver. Pedestrians, scurry across if you must, but do so infrequently and within a narrowly defined space. Get out of my way! Nonautos are trespassers, sometimes tolerated and often not. This, I submit, is the majority viewpoint in America. Bicycling within this context becomes a risky endeavor to be sure. Just last month I read a story about a bicyclist who was left in "serious-to-critical" condition after being struck by a CTA bus while riding in the city. The story prompted one reader to post the following comment:

And now the latest score: Bus 1, Bike 0. No surprise. Until the new bulletproof Krypyonite (sic.) bikes are marketed bike users need to be more careful. Might usually makes right and busses (sic.) are pretty mighty.

Stupid, but an attitude that is neither unique nor new. I recently came across an old essay authored by conservative satirist, P.J. O'Rourke. Written in 1987, it predicts the end of -- and wishes good riddance to -- the bicycle on America's streets. The piece, A Cool and Logical Analysis of the Bicycle Menace, is worth reading. In my opinion, its over-the-top tone makes it entertaining:

A Cool and Logical Analysis
of the Bicycle Menace

And an Examination of the Actions Necessary to License, Regulate,
or Abolish Entirely This Dreadful Peril on our Roads

by P.J. O'Rourke

Our nation is afflicted with a plague of bicycles. Everywhere the public right-of-way is glutted with whirring, unbalanced contraptions of rubber, wire, and cheap steel pipe. Riders of these flimsy appliances pay no heed to stop signs or red lights. They dart from between parked cars, dash along double yellow lines, and whiz through crosswalks right over the toes of law-abiding citizens like me.

In the cities, every lamppost, tree, and street sign is disfigured by a bicycle slathered in chains and locks. And elevators must be shared with the cycling faddist so attached to his "moron's bath-chair" that he has to take it with him everywhere he goes.

In the country, one cannot drive around a curve or over the crest of a hill without encountering a gaggle of huffing bicyclers spread across the road in suicidal phalanx.

Even the wilderness is not safe from infestation, as there is now such a thing as an off-road bicycle and a horrible sport called "bicycle-cross."

The ungainly geometry and primitive mechanicals of the bicycle are an offense to the eye. The grimy and perspiring riders of the bicycle are an offense to the nose. And the very existence of the bicycle is an offense to reason and wisdom.

PRINCIPAL ARGUMENTS WHICH MAY BE MARSHALED AGAINST BICYCLES

1. Bicycles are childish
Bicycles have their proper place, and that place is under small boys delivering evening papers. Insofar as children are too short to see over the dashboards of cars and too small to keep motorcycles upright at intersections, bicycles are suitable vehicles for them. But what are we to make of an adult in a suit and tie pedaling his way to work? Are we to assume he still delivers newspapers for a living? If not, do we want a doctor, lawyer, or business executive who plays with toys? St. Paul, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, 13:11, said, "When I became a man, I put away childish things." He did not say, "When I became a man, I put away childish things and got more elaborate and expensive childish things from France and Japan."

Considering the image projected, bicycling commuters might as well propel themselves to the office with one knee in a red Radio Flyer wagon.

2. Bicycles are undignified
A certain childishness is, no doubt, excusable. But going about in public with one's head between one's knees and one's rump protruding in the air is nobody's idea of acceptable behavior.

It is impossible for an adult to sit on a bicycle without looking the fool. There is a type of woman, in particular, who should never assume the bicycling posture. This is the woman of ample proportions. Standing on her own feet she is a figure to admire-classical in her beauty and a symbol, throughout history, of sensuality, maternal virtue, and plenty. Mounted on a bicycle, she is a laughingstock.

In a world where loss of human dignity is such a grave and all-pervading issue, what can we say about people who voluntarily relinquish all of theirs and go around looking at best like Quixote on Rosinante and more often like something in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade? Can such people be trusted? Is a person with so little self-respect likely to have any respect for you?

3. Bicycles are unsafe
Bicycles are top-heavy, have poor brakes, and provide no protection to their riders. Bicycles are also made up of many hard and sharp components which, in collision, can do grave damage to people and the paint finish on automobiles. Bicycles are dangerous things.

Of course, there's nothing wrong, per se, with dangerous things. Speedboats, racecars, fine shotguns, whiskey, and love are all very dangerous. Bicycles, however, are dangerous without being any fun. You can't shoot pheasants with a bicycle or water-ski behind it or go 150 miles an hour or even mix it with soda and ice. And the idea of getting romantic on top of a bicycle is alarming. All you can do with one of these ten-speed sink traps is grow tired and sore and fall off it.

Being dangerous without being fun puts bicycles in a category with open-heart surgery, the war in Vietnam, the South Bronx, and divorce. Sensible people do all that they can to avoid such things as these.

4. Bicycles are un-American
We are a nation that worships speed and power. And for good reason. Without power we would still be part of England and everybody would be out of work. And if it weren't for speed, it would take us all months to fly to L.A., get involved in the movie business, and become rich and famous.

Bicycles are too slow and impuissant for a country like ours. They belong in Czechoslovakia...

5. I don't like the kind of people who ride bicycles
At least I think I don't. I don't actually know anyone who rides a bicycle. But the people I see on bicycles look like organic-gardening zealots who advocate federal regulation of bedtime and want American foreign policy to be dictated by UNICEF. These people should be confined.

I apologize if I have the wrong impression. It may be that bicycle riders are all members of the New York Stock Exchange, Methodist bishops, retired Marine Corps drill instructors, and other solid citizens. However, the fact that they cycle around in broad daylight making themselves look like idiots indicates that they're crazy anyway and should be confined just the same.

6. Bicycles are unfair
Bicycles use the same roads as cars and trucks yet they pay no gasoline tax, carry no license plates, are not required to have insurance, and are not subject to DOT, CAFE, or NHTSA regulations. Furthermore, bicyclists do not have to take driver's examinations, have eye tests when they're over sixty-five, carry registration papers with them, or submit to breathalyzer tests under the threat of law. And they never get caught in radar traps.

The fact (see No. 5, above) that bicycles are ridden by the very people who most favor government interference in life makes the bicycle's special status not only unfair but an outright incitement to riot.

Equality before the law is the cornerstone of democracy. Bicycles should be made to carry twenty-gallon tanks of gasoline. They should be equipped with twelve-volt batteries and a full complement of taillights, headlamps, and turn signals. They should have seat belts, air bags, and safety-glass windows too. And every bicycle rider should be inspected once a year for hazardous defects and be made to wear a number plate hanging around his neck and another on the seat of his pants.

7. Bicycles are good exercise
And so is swinging through trees on your tail. Mankind has invested more than four million years of evolution in the attempt to avoid physical exertion. Now a group of backward-thinking atavists mounted on foot-powered pairs of Hula-Hoops would have us pumping our legs, gritting our teeth, and searing our lungs as though we were being chased across the Pleistocene savanna by saber-toothed tigers. Think of the hopes, the dreams, the effort, the brilliance, the pure force of will that, over the eons, has gone into the creation of the Cadillac Coupe de Ville. Bicycle riders would have us throw all this on the ash heap of history.

What must be done about about the bicycle threat?
Fortunately, nothing. Frustrated truck drivers and irate cabbies make a point of running bicycles off the road. Terrified old ladies jam umbrella ferrules into wheel spokes as bicycles rush by them on sidewalks. And all of us have occasion to back over bicycles that are haplessly parked.

Bicycles are quiet and slight, difficult for normal motorized humans to see and hear. People pull out in front of bicycles, open car doors in their path, and drive through intersections filled with the things. The insubstantial bicycle and its unshielded rider are defenseless against these actions. It's a simple matter of natural selection. The bicycle will be extinct within the decade. And what a relief that will be.

© P.J. O'Rourke
from 'Republican Party Reptile', The Atlantic Monthly Press, New York, 1987

I wonder if P.J. O'Rourke's childish complaints about bikes and those "organic-gardening zealots" who ride them were actually made to ridicule those who, in all seriousness, protest with red-faced hysteria about the "bicycle menace." Perhaps he was creating a satirical strawman. I don't know. Regardless of whether P.J. O'Rourke meant what he wrote or not, I have enough experience as a bicyclist and a lawyer representing bicyclists to know that a great many motorists do believe strongly in the viewpoints set forth in the essay.

How are these unreasonable folks to be dealt with?

RIDE -- O'Rourke's cheeky predication did not come true, of course. Far from disappearing from American roadways, bicyclists' numbers are increasing. Our new Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, seems committed to policies meant to increase our numbers even more. The future looks bright for bicyclists. Continue to ride. Recruit others to ride. The more people ride, the louder our collective voice will become and the more likely it is that those who are in a position to initiate change -- and fund and build "complete streets" -- will take notice and respond.

ADVOCATE -- Truth is, riding alone will not affect change. A safer and smarter traffic infrastructure will come about with organization. Motorists who think bicyclists do not belong on our streets will not learn better without it either. Join some of the many excellent, committed groups out there actively fighting on behalf of bicyclists. Many of these groups are staffed by smart, committed people who have the ear of legislators. They give bicyclists access to the mechanisms of change. A list of many such groups are listed down the right side of this blog. Locally, I recommend the Active Transportation Alliance. It is a fantastic group of Chicago bicyclists for Chicago bicyclists.

FIGHT -- Motorists should be placed on notice that negligent conduct comes with consequences. If you open your door without looking, make a right turn without paying attention, fail to give cyclists three feet of space, or otherwise drive like a knucklehead and hurt a bicyclist you will be sued. You will pay for your mistake.

Stylish Video Offers Reminder About The Danger Of Car Doors

Chicago bicyclists are a hardy bunch. Even in the freezing cold of winter there are plenty of bicyclists on the road. Please remember to always check your rear view mirror before exited your vehicle when you park on the street. Opening a vehicle door into a cyclist's path is extremely dangerous and can cause serious injury and even death. In the past I've written about steps bicyclists can take to avoid getting doored. Recently, I found the stylish and amusing video below on the Urban Velo website which I hope will serve as a reminder about the serious danger carelessly opened car doors present to bicyclists.

Learn To Ride In Traffic Without The Traffic

What if it were possible to teach children how to ride their bicycles in heavy traffic without them having to. . . well, ride in traffic? Honda has come up with a way. It may be worthwhile for school districts and local government to consider investing in this simulator.

Improvement Planned For Chicago Lake Front Bicycle Path

Construction is planned to start next year on a pathway near Chicago's Navy Pier that would fix one of the lake front bike path's most notorious pinch points, according to Crain's Chicago Business. Additional funding is still needed, but the city has applied for the necessary $13.7 million in federal money that has been set aside for projects that may reduce the number of cars on the road, the article said.

This would be a most welcome change. Anyone who has ridden the lake front path near Navy Pier and over the Chicago River knows how treacherous it becomes there. Bicyclists, joggers, pedestrians and inline skaters are now required to squeeze through a pretty small area. Redesigning and fixing that part of the path is a no-brainer in order to make the lake front safer and more enjoyable.

Website Helps Bicyclists Plot A Safe Route Through The City

When I was a bit younger (I'm 40), while riding my bicycle through the city all I cared about was getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible. I weaved, dodged and/or zipped about our crowded streets with abandon. Of course, I wanted to get to my destination in one piece, but I did not think much about getting into an accident. Now, riding around performing errands or commuting to and from the office I want my ride to be smooth, peaceful and, frankly, non-thrilling. All of those white ghost bikes scattered around the city freak me out. These days, I am apt to contemplate the safest bicycle route when heading out, rather than the quickest. I want a bike lane, fewer vehicles, wider roads. I know Chicago's streets pretty well, but I still often find myself wishing I had picked a different route when I'm out riding. Recently, I discovered a website that offers an assist.

Ride The City started in 2008 by Vaidila Kungys (@vaidila) and Jordan Anderson (@jordan_anderson) who met as students at New York University's urban planning program. According to the website, "Like . . . other mapping applications, Ride the City finds the shortest distance between two points, with a difference. First, RTC avoids roads that aren't meant for biking, like highways and busy arterial streets. Second, RTC tries to steer cyclists toward routes that maximize the use of bike lanes, bike paths, greenways, and other bike-friendly streets." The site started out offering mapping services for New York City bikers, but in June, 2009 it added Chicago. Austin and Louisville were also added this summer. Much like Google Maps and Mapquest, the user chooses two points on a map and the application depicts a route. You get to choose whether you'd like to see the most direct route, a safe route or a "safer" route. The service works well for middle-agers like me and for folks more like my mid-20s self who just want to get there fast. My only complaint with Ride The City at this point is that you have to be at a computer to use it. An iPhone or other smartphone application would be tremendously helpful.