Don't drive your tractor while drunk...OR your mower

[robs660]

My neighbor was watched by a cop while he cut his lawn with a beer. The cop waited for him to make a pass on his property edge so a wheel would have had to touch the road. He stopped him gave him a sobriety test, passed that, then a breath test, passed that. Then he arrested him for open container.
It was Labor Day Sunday and he ended up spending Monday in jail because he was so mad that he resisted arrest And the cop got pissed. Lost his license for 12 months. I now mow with an Odoul's waiting for the day the cop is sitting again. I hate Odoul's but it will be south fun to run from the man on my zero turn while I throw empties off the side on my lawn.

 

[murphy1244]

If they drive by and see you drinking a beer and operating a tractor or mower....thats probable cause. Now the private road thing I have no clue about. But we dont have many of them around me.

Now I am not saying that I agree with it, cause I like to have a cold refreshment while mowing or doing some loader work, but its the law. And if seen, they can enter and arrest you. Just the same as if a cop was driving by and saw someone getting ready to commit a murder. SEEING a crime be committed is the probable cause.

Again, I dont agree with the stupid law. What a homeowner does on his mower is none of the business of the law IMO as long as he is not endangering others. And I still never liked, nor do I understand the "open container" laws. Again, its all about money and not safety. Cause you can drink a beer, then drive to the store and be perfectly legal. But you cannot drink that beer on the way to the store??? Whats the difference as far as being impaired is concerned?????

Is there a law for operating a mower while drinking? Not in this state.

 

[Ted Summey]

NC's statute apparently DOES NOT apply to mowing while impaired on private property but may apply to public vehicular areas (parking lots, privately maintained roads):

(a) Offense. A person commits the offense of impaired driving if he drives any vehicle upon any highway, any street, or any public vehicular area within this State:
(1) While under the influence of an impairing substance; or
(2) After having consumed sufficient alcohol that he has, at any relevant time after the driving, an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more. The results of a chemical analysis shall be deemed sufficient evidence to prove a person's alcohol concentration; or
(3) With any amount of a Schedule I controlled substance, as listed in G.S. 9089, or its metabolites in his blood or urine.

 

[mjarrels]

It's all about the money!

mark

 

[TripleR]

We recently had a child not far from here lose a leg under a lawnmower, not the operator's fault it was determined, but can you imagine if he/she had been drinking.

As much as I cherish my private property rights, I don't want someone crossing onto mine off theirs and running over one of my grand kids whether it's a lawnmower or tractor; please finish your work then get drunk.

 

[dmccarty]

Can you be arrested in NC for being drunk in a wheel chair?

It would depend on the very specific definitions of vehicle and the DUI/DWI statute. In NC you would not be legally impaired in a powered wheel chair on the porch. The NC impaired driving statute requires the vehicle to be on a highway, street or PVA.

Offense. A person commits the offense of impaired driving if he drives any vehicle upon any highway, any street, or any public vehicular area within this State:

The NC definition of a vehicle has changed and an "Electric Personal Assistive Mobility Device", aka a Segway, is specifically exempted from the definition of a vehicle. The definition of vehicle would include a lawn mower, tractor, or motorized wheel chairs.

(49) 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 fixed rails or tracks; provided, that for the purposes of this Chapter bicycles shall be deemed vehicles and every rider of a bicycle upon a highway shall be subject to the provisions of this Chapter applicable to the driver of a vehicle except those which by their nature can have no application....

So a motorized wheel chair is a vehicle, if one had a BAC of .08 AND was on a PVA, highway or street, they could be charged with impaired driving.
But one could not be arrested and convicted for impaired driving a human powered wheel chair since it is not considered a vehicle. At least in NC in May 2013.

Mowing your lawn while impaired would not be meet the elements of the impaired statute as long as the grass is not on the road or a PVA. Nor would plowing a field.

Later,
Dan

 

[Ted Summey]

I did witness a DUI issued to a wheel chair confined individual on 10th Street in Greenville NC about 30 years ago. The guy was impaired by alcohol, don't ask how I know. Of course if you know Greenville, you would know we were close to ECU.

 

[timster2]

Perhaps I am over thinking this, however, I have just recently started using a wheelchair and look at mobility a little differently. If I was to go to a county fair or other public event and get a beer in my powered wheelchair I could be guilty of driving with an open container! Sounds ridiculous but if the definition of vehicle includes a powered wheelchair then it could apply. I have a CDL which could lower the blood alcohol limits even further resulting in a DUI as well.

Tim

 

[300UGUY]

We recently had a child not far from here lose a leg under a lawnmower, not the operator's fault it was determined, but can you imagine if he/she had been drinking.

As much as I cherish my private property rights, I don't want someone crossing onto mine off theirs and running over one of my grand kids whether it's a lawnmower or tractor; please finish your work then get drunk.

One thing I just can't understand, it's the idea of letting small children run around when you are mowing the yard. I mean, I put my dogs inside, and the stay away from anything noisy. And as far as drinking and mowing, I used to, but would rather wait for the job to be done, I appreciate the brewski a lot more then.

 

[300UGUY]

It is a curious thing. I worked in a convenience store for a while, bad choice, anyways a painter or two would come in every morning and buy a 12 pack. Many are self-employed, so no bosses to harass them about their drinking. That could be by design if a person is an alcoholic.

In any case, I'm not criticizing veterans, I'm more concerned that they don't get the support needed, or are unable to adjust well to civilian life for whatever reason. The structure provided by the military while serving--they make it painful to step outside the rules, may enable some to lead productive lives that would otherwise not happen.

When they leave the service and that enforced structure, it may be they don't handle that well. I dunno, just thinking out load.

Years ago, it wasn't uncommon for a judge to give a young miscreant a choice: jail or sign-up for the service. That was probably a favor to some of them, they needed discipline and structure.

I have brother that ended up in the navy that way. Got drunk, had a fight with the cops, next morning, he was a navy guy. These days, he's be in jail for a long time.

As far as contractor's go, a lot of self employed folks I know are incapable of regualr employment. Chemical dependicies, personality disorders, whatever. I 've got a couple in my family. To be positive I refer them as being entreprenuers, or self employed. Reality is more along the lines of paranoid schizophrenia. And jobs with low barriers to entry, like house painting, collect interesting folks....