It shall henceforth be known as:

The Jane Rule.

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Originally posted by Gretchen:
Just to stir the pot, what would you say about bicycles with the motorized boost (for going uphill, e.g.)? Does it then become a motor vehicle?

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If it has a motor, it is a motor vehicle. And I'd say you'd be operating it even if the motor weren't running--otherwise, some drunk coasting his car down a hilly street in Austin wouldn't be DWI.

I have other rules, but we won't get into them here.

As PC 49 refers us to PC 32.34 for the definition of "motor vehicle", it would certainly appear that a bicycle IS a motor vehicle for Chapter 49 purposes. (Interesting how the definition specifically excludes "a device used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks"). Because I'd rather be hit by an intoxicated person operating a locomotive than a bike....

I use the definition of watercraft ("WATERCRAFT means a vessel, one or more water skis, an aquaplane, or another device used for transporting or carrying a person on water OTHER THAN A DEVICE PROPELLED ONLY BY THE CURRENT OF WATER) as a humorous example during DWI/BWI training:

While you're floating the Guadalupe (intoxicated) on your tube, keep your hands out of the water and you're P.I. - stick your hands in the water and paddle (now no longer being "propelled only by the current of water") and you're BWI...

[This message was edited by Brent Robbins on 09-10-10 at .]

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Originally posted by Forensicscientist:
Aren't there real DWI's in Austin to focus on?

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I guess that depends on who you ask:
http://www.statesman.com/news/local/sixth-street-cowboys-hoofed-it-west-but-couldnt-1179416.html

I got a call from one of our HP Corporals. Apparently, there is a company selling a package for retrofitting a regular bicycle with a two cylinder 69 cc gas engine. It has a separate chain system, so the rider can either pedal the bicyle normally, or ride it using the engine for power. Supposedly it has a upper speed range of 40 mph or so.

So the question is, since this conceivable fits into the definition of a "motor driven cycle," wouldn't it fall under the Penal Code definition of a motor vehicle.

Janette A