DUI Applies to Motor Vehicles Only
If you are someone who likes to enjoy a few beers while traveling on horseback down a dark road, then you can sympathize with a man from McMinn County, Tennessee who was recently arrested for doing just that. According to WBIR.com, the police received complaints about someone riding a horse down a country road at night and sent a deputy out to see what was happening. Upon arriving, the deputy found a man riding his horse down the dark road and noticed that the man was slurring his speech and had several empty beer cans and prescription pills in his saddlebags.
Police arrested the man apparently as much for his own safety as anything else, as the speed limit on the road was fifty-five miles per hour, making it an extremely unsafe area for after-hours equestrian travel. The bad news for the man is that he was charged with public intoxication for his tipsy trek, a Class C misdemeanor under T.C.A. section 39-17-310 punishable by up to thirty days imprisonment. There is some good news for him, however, in that driving under the influence is only applicable to operation of a “motor vehicle” in Tennessee, thus preventing him from being faced with an additional fine of up to $1,500 and suspension of his drivers’ license for one year in accordance with T.C.A. section 55-10-403.
To be guilty of driving under the influence in Tennessee, the statute requires that a person must be in physical control of an automobile or “motor-driven” vehicle at the time of the alleged offense. Thus, while the statute would clearly apply to the operation of an automobile, golf cart, tractor, lawnmower, motorized scooter, or any other similar vehicle it does not apply to the riding or control of animals.
However, the fact that the DUI statute in Tennessee does not contemplate the riding of animals does not mean that a person who chooses to do so while inebriated will be free from facing criminal charges. Like the man in the example above, anyone wishing to travel in this manner runs the risk of being arrested for public intoxication and could possibly face other charges including obstructing a highway or other passageway under T.C.A. section 39-17-307. Thus, although riding an animal while intoxicated is not specifically contemplated by Tennessee’s DUI statutes, it is clearly something to be avoided for both legal and safety reasons.
Sources: T.C.A. section 39-17-310; T.C.A. section 55-10-403; T.C.A. section 39-17-310; http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=101152&catid=2
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