Lawn mower, ATV drivers could face stricter DUI laws in Delaware

DAGSBORO -- State Rep. Helene Keeley has drafted a bill that would close a "loophole" in Delaware's driving under the influence laws. House Bill 256 proposes classifying operating riding lawn mowers, all-terrain vehicles and other similar automobiles while intoxicated as the same as driving a car.
The legislation comes on the heels of two incidents involving Delawareans being intoxicated behind the wheel of these vehicles and receiving probation in one case and a small fine in another.
The first incident happened in Dagsboro during the summer, when a 3-year-old boy was injured in his family's driveway when a person with a .10 blood alcohol content struck him while driving an ATV on Clogg Drive. He admitted to the officer to having "five or six beers" and was given probation.
Also last year, a man driving a lawn mower in Laurel who had been convicted of DUI three times was pulled over with a .15 BAC and, because of Delaware's DUI laws, he was fined $100 and had his mower impounded for 100 days, without any further penalty.
"It might sound silly at first, but this is a serious situation," Rep. Keeley, D-Wilmington South, said. "People can and have gotten hurt by drunk drivers operating vehicles that don't belong on our roads. By subjecting these drunk drivers to our DUI laws, they not only face tougher penalties, but they will receive more intensive treatment and monitoring, which will help save lives."
The bill, known as HB 259, would increase the penalty for drivers of "off-highway vehicles" while under the influence of alcohol on public roads or private property without the property owner's permission, from the $100 fine to the same as the state's penalties for DUI.
Jim Seiberlich, the owner of Harbeson Cycle & Service in Georgetown, which sells ATVs, said he's not quite sure what to make of the proposed legislation.
"They're not supposed to be driving on the road anyway, let alone drunk," he said of ATV operators. "I'd have to put some thought into it, but if they're going to punish them the same as driving a car, I think that's a little expensive."
The bill, which is assigned to the House Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee, also includes a provision that anyone operated an off-highway vehicle on a public road who injures another person can be charged with vehicular assault. This law would have applied to the Dagsboro case.
"You shouldn't be on the road in the first place," said Dean Scarborough, who owns Delmarva Speed and Sport in Milford, an ATV dealer. "They're not supposed to do it, but everyone does something they're not supposed to do every once in a while."
Drinking and driving four-wheelers, as ATVs are also called, are activities that can go together, Scarborough said, when done off the road and on a course or one's own property.
"You'll have a beer or two and drive the ATVs around the yard," he said. "On their own private property, they do what they want."