Bizarre

Is It DWI If You’re On a Horse?

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

This is a question faced by many municipalities. That question will be answered in Austin, Texas, where two men were arrested this week for DWI while one was riding a horse and the other was riding a mule. It is perfectly legal to ride a horse in downtown Austin. The two were arrested on E. 6th Street, the where-it’s-happening place in Austin.

The men were luring people out of bars to take pictures and pet the animals.

Commander Jason Dusterhoft, of the Austin Police Department stated:

The law has recently changed and the motor vehicle definition is a little ambiguous, but they felt that it would fit that criteria.

That is one hell of an ambiguity.

It seems that the DWI charges have been dropped in lieu of public intoxication.

H/T: KVUE-TV (with video).

23 thoughts on “Is It DWI If You’re On a Horse?”

  3. Brian,

    Years ago a friend woke up in the passenger seat of his car. This was an older model with a painted dashboard. He noticed that the area around the key lock of his glove compartment. After waking up, he remembered that the last thing he remembered was trying to start his car.

    It’s a good thing that glove compartment didn’t start. There would be a good chance that he would not have been around to tell the story.

  4. So the trick is to pass out, so that the horse is in charge! You train the horse to go back to the barn, then when you stumble out of the bar, you tie yourself to the saddle. You can safely pass out, the horse gets you home, and you’re not guilty of DWI.

  5. In Wisconsin the label is OWI – Operating While Intoxicated.

    If one is being driven home in an automobile owned and driven by someone else who is not a trace intoxicated, and the one being driven is lying down in the back seat of the car, and the driver has stopped to use “the facilities,” leaving the engine running because of an intermittent problem with the starter, the car with its engine running has an operating engine, and the person lying down in the back seat is imputed to be in control of the car for lack of anyone else, and is imputed to be operating the vehicle, even though the person never drove it.

    I presume a surgeon sutureing or dentist drilling who is intoxicated while working would also properly be charged with Operating While Intoxicated.

    In Wisconsin, my hunch is that, if a person is sitting on a living horse, the person is legally in control of the horse, therefore operating the horse, and OWI would be a proper charge.

  6. it’s not the first time i’ve heard of this. a friend of a friend in alabama was given a dui while on a horse, the judje upheld it because he was on the right of way and a menace to traffic. i didn’t ask if they towed the horse, but i did ask how they handcuffed him. his left hand had been amputated above the wrist.

  9. raff,

    But what if Mr. Ed was drunk too?

    Now there’s a legal quandary.

  10. Elaine,
    great video. A horse is a horse of course, of course, but noone can be charged for DUI (DWI) while riding Mr. Ed!

  12. I can see a definition of DWI that includes a horse (e.g. “Operating any conveyance while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.”)

    However, Texas seems to define DWI in terms of motor vehicles, and motor vehicles as: “(2) “Motor vehicle” means a device in, on, or by which a person or property is or may be transported or drawn on a highway, except a device used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks.”

    A horse is not a device.

  13. Pingback: Only In Texas: Men Arrested For DWI On A Horse

  14. A little horse sense would have informed the cops that “equine” and “automobile” are a false equivalence.

  15. Jur honor, dae threw me in the jail and put my designated driver in a trailer and towed her away. Now they says I was intox, intox, intoxicreated *burp*, but I was in Austin, not toxi, toxi, toxicreated. I got a question fer ya judge. Why didn’t they arrest the lady drivin’ the deputy for poopin’ in the street?

    [deputy was on horseback]

  16. LOL….but then again….no motor involved….this was an absolute BULL SHIT CHARGE…….so question were the Horse’s impounded? Was there a Tow fee….a storage fee…

  18. I believe the Law was written in regards to motor vehicles and there is no DWI on a horse in my opinion. Might be time at looking where it might be time to severe Texas from the union until that state can prove some mental stability by their leaders.

  19. ” They were apparently trying to lure people out of bars and into the street to take pictures with them and their farm animals.”

    The way things have been going crazy lately,there motive was innocent.:=)

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