Pennsylvania driver arrested for operating lawn mower while drunk

People who operate heavy machinery, including and especially motor vehicles, while they are drunk can put themselves and others at risk of being seriously injured. This is because alcohol can significantly impair a person’s coordination, vision, decision-making skills and reflexes. When a person is drunk and operating a vehicle, they can put everyone else on the road in danger of being hurt or killed in a car accident.

Recently, authorities in western Pennsylvania spotted a one such driver on the road very early in the morning. People across Pittsburgh may have heard about this story, because the man who was arrested and charged with license violations and DUI was on a riding lawn mower.

According to reports, the 55-year-old man was heading home from a friend’s house. Instead of getting behind the wheel of his truck, he opted to get behind the wheel of his riding lawn mower and take that to his home, which was more than six miles away. It was 1:30 a.m. when police spotted him riding on the road with an open can of beer.

People have poked fun at the story because it seems silly to get arrested for driving a lawn mower while intoxicated. But the danger that this man could have put himself and others in is no laughing matter. Imagine being another motorist on the road that evening. It would be very possible for a driver who could not see the lawn mower to crash into it or have to swerve off the road at the last minute to avoid a collision. Fortunately, no one was injured in this case, but victims of other drunk drivers are not so lucky.

Police officers in this state try to identify and arrest drunk drivers before they can cause an accident, but they cannot stop every driver who has made the reckless decision to get behind the wheel after drinking. If and when these drivers cause an accident, victims who have been injured have the right to hold that driver responsible for the damage that has been done as a result of his or her reckless or negligent behavior.

Source: Herald and News, “ODD: Pa. man charged with DUI on riding lawn mower,” Sept. 19, 2013