This will take some statutory addition but you will see how Florida's DUI laws make it illegal for someone in a wheelchair to drink more than a couple beers. I will use highlights to draw attention to important parts of the statutes. First we must look at the Florida DUI statute 316.193. Driving under the influence; (1) A person is guilty of the offense of driving under the influence and is subject to punishment as provided in subsection (2) if the person is driving or in actual physical control of a vehicle (does not say motorized) within this state (does not say on a road) and: (a) The person is under the influence of alcoholic beverages, any chemical substance set forth in s. 877.111, or any substance controlled under chapter 893, when affected to the extent that the persons normal faculties are impaired; (b) The person has a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or more grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood; or (c) The person has a breath-alcohol level of 0.08 or more grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath. Vehicle is every device, in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway. Based on these broad definitions, a person in a wheelchair could fall within the application of the Florida DUI laws.



If you think this is BS we can look into the news to find out cops will arrest anybody they can find for DUI. Bicyclist, horseman, riding lawnmowers and even a a Hoveround. "Cynthia Christensen was maneuvering her Hoveround wheelchair down her front driveway when it became stuck in some sand. Cynthia fiddled with the Hoveround's joystick and hopped a 4 inch lip onto the main road where she hit an oncoming truck. "I was not even one foot from the curb I was popped pretty good,"said Christensen who had 9 stitches in her right toe. While she was at the hospital the nuses drew her blood and sent a sample to the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement laboratory. The sheriff's deputy had smelled alcohol on Cyntia's breath and had asked for a toxicology exam. Cynthia received a summons a few days later for a DUI. "It was not like I was riding down the road drunk. I can't even drive. I am very upset" she said." shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=35943. The case ended up being thrown out but it was litigated by the state of Florida. Hopefully the litigtion was to obtain a ruling with an agreement that the state would not go for a conviction but that probably was not the case.



