Q: Last week you wrote about walking and driving impaired, but what about cycling impaired? How dangerous is it, and what happens if you get a DUI on a bicycle? Can you still lose your license?
A: There’s a reason it’s called impairment. Whether it’s driving, walking, biking, or any other activity — transportation and otherwise — alcohol and other drugs make you worse at them. You can find evidence for that in the many reckless, dangerous, and foolish stunts that begin with, “hold my beer.” As I’ve mentioned before, in Washington half of all motor vehicle fatalities involve impairment and over half of pedestrians killed in traffic crashes are impaired.
It’s not much better when we look at cyclist fatalities. Forty-five percent of cyclists killed in traffic crashes were impaired. Impaired cyclists are four times more likely to get in a crash. Impaired cyclists killed in crashes engaged more often in high-risk behaviors like riding against traffic, running red lights, riding at night, and not wearing a helmet…