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One Too Many

Drunk Wheelchair Driver Banned from the Roads

A German court has banned the driver of an electric wheelchair from using his vehicle for a month after he was caught twice with a blood alcohol level well over the legal limit.

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A no-no, even if you're just driving an electric wheelchair.

A German court considered exactly that question this week in the town of Hagen in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia -- and came to the conclusion that drunk driving should be punishable no matter what the vehicle is. The court forbade 20-year-old Michael S. from driving his wheelchair for an entire month.

The verdict stems from two nights earlier this year when Michael S. partied a little too hard with his friends. On February 2, right in the middle of Carnival, the young man had a few too many and missed the last bus home, leaving him with no other option than to motor the distance in his wheelchair, which has a top speed of six kilometers per hour. A police officer noticed that Michael S. was weaving and stopped him. His blood alcohol level was found to be 1.82 -- well over the legal limit.

Two weeks later, the young man hit the town again, this time being stopped with a blood alcohol level of 2.06. In May, a local court fined him €100 and forbade him from "driving" his wheelchair for four weeks. The verdict has now been upheld after Michael appealed.

"I didn't know that I wasn't allowed to drive my chair while drunk," Michael said, according to the tabloid Bild. "I screwed up, but I depend on my wheelchair."

According to German law, Michael would have been fine if he'd done without the last drink or two. Whereas those behind the wheel of cars and trucks in Germany can lose their licenses for a blood alcohol level of 1.1, cyclists and wheelchair drivers are allowed a level of 1.6 before facing stern punishment.

Michael, though, was well above even that. Referring to Michael's level when he was pulled over the second time, Judge Thomas Schäfer said, "most people can't even reach such a level -- they fall over beforehand."

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