Avid readers of our blogs will know that it’s not just when driving a car or truck that you can get into trouble with the law if you fail alcohol testing. Depending on the state and territory, riding a horse and operating a street float are also not allowed while over the limit, plus you should never use a ride on mower unless it’s on your property.
The latest person to fully comprehend the laws is a Queensland resident in the town of Warwick, around 130 kilometres south-west of Brisbane. With the Apple and Grape Harvest Festival in full swing and with taxis in short supply, Nicholas Van Eden decided to hop on his ride on mower to get to the event.
According to the Courier Mail, Mr Van Eden was stopped after police noticed him driving the mower down a main street with an open can of beer in his hand and a few more travellers beside him. Alcohol testing was carried out and he blew a quite significant blood alcohol level of 0.146.
In the man’s defence, at his recent trial, his lawyer said Mr Van Eden decided to use the ride on lawnmower after he could not get a cab due to the large influx of visitors for the festival. He thought getting to the festival on the ride on would be convenient and a bit comical.
The lawyer added that his client was actually trying to do the right thing.
“Our client owns a motor vehicle, which he could have driven that night, but he had the sense not to,” the lawyer is quoted as saying in the Courier Mail article. Perhaps that ‘sense’ should have transferred to not using the ride on while drunk, but obviously not!
Mr Van Eden was fined $400 and suspended from driving for three months. An expensive trip to the festival!
Alcohol testing shame
Not only can’t you get away with riding your lawnmower while over the limit, in a country town you often can’t get away with doing other silly things without having your name appear in the newspaper.
So in the same Courier Mail article you’ll also find these stories about alcohol testing shame:
- A woman, Lisa Musgrave, who rolled her car while driving close to three times over the legal limit. Her excuse for getting on the grog, driving her car, crashing it and then failing alcohol testing? “I have no excuse, Your Honour. There were mitigating circumstances, but nothing to justify the bad decision I made,” she is quoted as saying in the article. She was fined $600 and suspended from driving for four months.
- Then there was the case of Amy Swan, who tried to dodge police by performing a sudden U-turn. Police caught up with her, although she wasn’t in the driver’s seat when they did. She managed to crawl into the footwell of the driver’s side to try to hide. Her blood alcohol level was 0.134. In a recent court case she was fined $400 and suspended from driving for three months.
Clearly if you’re going to go to Warwick in Queensland, you better behave yourself or you could join the list of alcohol testing shame.
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Here’s a tip: if you’re going to get drunk, don’t drive your ride on lawnmower on public carriageways in Queensland. Alcohol testing could catch you! Credit Ingo Doerrie https://unsplash.com/photos/s664bXr_5E0
