DUI Is For Low-Speed Vehicles, Too
South Carolina is a popular destination for boozy vacations, and this is part of the reason that the Palmetto State consistently ranks in the top ten states for number of alcohol-related traffic accidents, despite its relatively small population. Meanwhile, anything with wheels is more fun in South Carolina than it is elsewhere. Some people enjoy traveling through South Carolina by car or on a motorcycle, but the possibilities do not end there. While you are here, you might as well enjoy a ride in a golf cart, all-terrain vehicle (ATV) or, for those who enjoy the simple pleasures in life, a bicycle. Besides wheels, what all of these contraptions have in common is that it is as dangerous and illegal as it is tempting to ride them after the scent of the sea breeze has mingled with the taste of cold beer in your mouth. In South Carolina, it is possible to get a DUI if you were drunk and operating a vehicle that moves less quickly than a car. If you got injured in an accident where drunk biking played a role, contact a Columbia car accident lawyer.
It Is Against the Law to Ride a Bike or Drive a Golf Cart While Under the Influence of Alcohol
In South Carolina, laws against driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) are not just for cars. You can also get the same criminal charges for DUI if you were operating a less powerful wheeled vehicle when your blood alcohol content (BAC) was above the legal limit of 0.08 percent. These are some of the vehicles that it is against the law to operate while drunk:
- Motorcycles
- All-terrain vehicles (ATVs)
- Golf carts
- Bicycles
- Utility terrain vehicles (UTVs)
The licensing and registration requirements vary from one vehicle category to the next, but the rules about DUI are the same.
How Drunk Biking Affects Your Personal Injury Claim
The criminal penalties for riding a low-speed vehicle are not the riskiest part. If you ride a golf cart or other low-speed vehicle while drunk, you increase your risk of getting into an accident. Even if you are not wholly at fault for the accident, the insurance company might increase your share of fault because you were drinking. This means that your insurance settlement will pay some of your medical expenses, but not all of them.
No matter what vehicle you were driving, dram shop liability laws apply if a bar continued to serve alcohol to you after you were noticeably too drunk to drive. Dram shop liability laws protect everyone injured in drunk driving accidents, even the drunk driver himself or herself, and even if it was a single vehicle collision.
Let Us Help You Today
The personal injury lawyers at the Stanley Law Group can help you get adequate compensation after an accident where the at fault driver was driving a golf cart while drunk. Contact The Stanley Law Group in Columbia, South Carolina or call (803)799-4700 for a free initial consultation.
Source:
myrtlebeachonline.com/news/state/south-carolina/article310624280.html
