Man drunk on powered bicycle gets driving ban; Garda says "he was goosed"
The man was already banned from driving so he bought a powered bicycle. He got a rude awakening when he realised it was classed in Ireland as a mechanically propelled vehicle.
A man has been disqualified from driving after being caught over the legal alcohol cycling a bicycle with a small engine.
Jimmy Swaine from Kilcullen in Co Kildare told Naas District Court he genuinely believed the bicycle he was on was not a mechanically propelled vehicle.
And because of that he wrongly though he did not need tax, insurance and that riding the bike did not qualify as driving.
The court was told he already had a history of drink driving and had been serving a 12-year drink driving ban at the time of the incident involved the bicycle with the engine.
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On June 25th, 2015, he was spotted by a garda lying on the group on Naas Road, Kilcullen, with the bicycle beside him.
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When tested for alcohol he was found to have a concentration of 203 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood in his system, according to the Leinster Leader report on the case last week.
When Judge Desmond Zaidan inquired what state Swaine had been in when found on the group, Insp Patsy Glennon told the court “he was goosed”.
Mr Swaine informed Judge Zaidan that he had bought the bike on the DoneDeal website. He added the advert for the bike specifically stated it was not a motor powered vehicle under law.
The bike had a 48CC engine that ran on petrol once the bike had been cycled for about 10 to 15 pedal strokes.
(Editor’s note: There is a distinction in law between bicycles that are propelled by a power supply and bikes that must be pedalled and where the pedalling is simply assisted by a power supply. A bike which is propelled by power is classified as a mechanically propelled vehicle and is subject to the same laws as other vehicles.)
Mr Swaine was banned from driving for three years, which will run while the remainder of his historical 12-year ban is being served. He was also fined €400.
However, when he told the court he had since bought an E-bike, Judge Zaidan questioned whether that was also a mechanically propelled vehicle.
He suggested the State needed to provide more clarity on exactly when a bicycle with some form of power system becomes a mechanically propelled vehicle by law.
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