it was bound to happen. Lol

Hawkskater

You know the cops were like "I'll be we can charge him with a DUI for this. Let's see how far this goes"

Joseph

the sad thing is that you can also get a DWI/DUI for riding a bicycle or even something like a push-scooter.

What's the harm in that? Never heard of a Drunk-cyclist mowing down a pedestrian on his trek!

impreza

*Sir, do you know how fast you were going?*
*nah: still need to install the speedometre*
*beer?*
-then it hits the cop-

nocturnus

@impreza: might go into traffic, creating an accident. To be honest, I'm not sure if i think this is stupid or valid. Should it be a felony; no.

jkr2

The problem I have with the whole thing is that a DWI/DUI conviction will result in the loss or suspension of your license. This applies for someone that's convicted of driving on a bicycle (or cooler, I guess). However, you don't need a license to drive these vehicles in the first place - so why are we suspending driver's licenses when a driver's license has nothing to do with the offense?

scrag

i would just offer the officers a few beers and we could say it never happened.

Hawkskater

"aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle charges"

could someone please put that in plain english?

skulldriveshaft

"You can't cruise around on your cooler if you're intoxicated."

And you don't cruise around on your cooler if you're sober.

twoeightnine

We used to have this crazy drunk guy who used to drive up and down the road on his tractor.

carmen masturbates to her unix book

@scrag: That's the rub, this guy already had his license suspended and was using the cooler to get around since he couldn't legally drive.... Kind of like when I was a kid and my grandfather was ticketed for failure to keep right, speeding and driving without a license after an accident. Since he didn't have a license at the time, the points went into limbo, but he still had to pay the fines.

P.S. Nice to see someplace near my home hit the big time!

aka Bitter

...lol.

William Hook

what about insurance

ptjims

Alright, off to make my purchase.

shamoononon

I failed. I'll figure it out and be back. Darn...

Tank

First place:

Tank

Won last place in the cooler derby:

shamoononon

test

shamoononon

It would be so easy to put some batteries in there.

You could look all tooly surfing the Giz!

strider_mt2k

OK. I give. I checked the source code and I posted my image the way it's shown in the source. Will someone give me advice on posting images inline in the forum? For next time. It's way too late to post another picture of a guy on a damn cooler scooter holding his arm up. Thanks.

Tank

@shamoononon: Well, the beard is totally first place.

Metkis

@twoeightnine: I agree with you. Only someone willing to make themselves look silly (while being aware of it) would drive a cruzin' cooler sober. The same goes to those bar stool cruisers too.

logikgr

@EyeintheLAsky: HOLY SHIT!

shamoononon

First off: i don't claim to be a lawyer.

That said, how can ANYONE believe that just because someone put a set of wheels on a cooler, that qualifies it as a motor vehicle?

This drunks' lawyer should have his license revoked for impersonating a lawyer (but, that's a different type of law anyway). Should have hired a counselor who is learned in the law instead.

A "motor vehicle" pertains to transportation IN COMMERCE.

That means, s/he would have to be PAID to drive it, for it to qualify as being used IN COMMERCE.

My car isn't a motor vehicle...it's my automobile. Used for personal use. For it to fall within the definition of a 'motor vehicle', i would have to have a permit to transport anyone other than me - for payment!
My wife and son AREN'T EVER 'passengers', they're 'riders'.
(the fact that 99.9 percent of us 'buy' our cars, then 'hand over' the ownership of said cars to the state, THEN turn around and 'pay' the state to 'lease it back' - which is ludicrous - is another story, as well as a much more difficult part of the law than we have time for here in this forum).

Those of you who say "hey, your just playing semantics here - are right. and it's IMPORTANT to know the proper term/phrase here, or the 'state' will get you.

If you allow the government to define your property as something it isn't, then you run the risk of getting into trouble when they want something from you - mainly money (uh-0h, there's that COMMERCE thing again).

All they should've been able to nail this poor sap on was for MAYBE public intoxication (uh...NOT a Felony). But you don't plea to that first.
First you deal with the 'unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle' charge.

Simple scenario: Why 'plead' into a fiction?

(sure, the guy was drunk - but why plead into the fictional charge if you can prove that what you were doing WASN'T illegal OR under the jurisdiction of the COURT!)

It helps lessen the secondary charge due to the courts' lack of jurisdiction in the first place.

i forget the actual latin, but my criminology instructor (a sitting superior court judge at the time), once mentioned something about pleas.

there was;

...guilty
(yes, i did what you say i did)

...NOT guilty
(no, i did NOT do what you say i did)

...Nolo Contendre [no contest]
(i don't admit to it, but will not fight the charge of what you say i did)

...and another i can't remember by name.
(i DID what you say, but what i did WASN'T/ISN'T a crime).

The rationale for this last (and misunderstood - thus, underused plea), is typically for the type of case where one land owner is accused of tearing down (bulldozing) the boundary fence of a neighbor.

in court, the defendant says (basically),
"YES, i DID what the charge alleges. However, what i did was NOT illegal NOR a CRIME"

...and through the trial proves that the boundary fence had been mistakenly place ON HIS land - through a mistake made by a surveyor in favor of the neighboring land-owner that hired the surveyor.

Through a previous survey (and possibly another - ordered to satisfy the court), he proved that the fence had been improperly erected upon what was HIS property in the first place.

He proved that the court had NO jurisdiction as to what he could do on his OWN land on this matter...therefore he could - within the rights he held as the lawful landowner - tear down a fence that had been improperly placed on HIS land.

=================

Similar usage here:
How can someone be held on a charge of 'operating' a motor vehicle that has NO codification in commerce?

Point is: it's likely there isn't a 'law' or 'ordinance' (types of 'codifying') that pertains to the licensing of the operation of a plastic cooler - simply because it doesn't fit into the scenario of commerce.

Demand for an IMMEDIATE hearing to prove the court has jurisdiction in the matter at all.

"How many permits were issued last year in the state to 'operate' a plastic cooler" ???

"What is the permit procedure to obtain a license for the operation of said cooler" ???

Chances are the "State" can't provide the codification necesary to 'prove' it HAS jurisdiction over this type of conveyance (a KEY word here).

Assuming the state would 'pass the buck' to the DMV, subpoena a DMV manager as to how many people attempted to license a cooler as a conveyance - IN Commerce - in the past year, two, five, etc.

And as ptjims suggests (above), go a step further to prove the court is overstepping its authority by bringing in an insurance commissioner (each state has one), to testify to the number of policies issued in the last calendar year to cover the 'operation of a plastic cooler used in commerce'.

Even in the Business & Practices codes...chances are there isn't any codification that would be beneficial to the states' assertion that a plastic cooler is regularly considered a 'motor vehicle' used 'in commerce'.

Chances are this can't be proved. Therefore, using a "reasonable man" approach, this charge is moot - for lack of evidence.

Demanding a dismissal shouldn't be hard. The secondary charge can easily be limited to misdemeanor public drunkenness, without having to lose his right to vote or own a firearm that goes with being convicted of a Felony (another tactic the state likes to play).

Defining a cooler with wheels as a 'motor vehicle' makes about as much sense as defining a Big Wheel as a 'motor vehicle'...in spite of the fact that neither is used as a conveyance 'in commerce'. They're just not practical.

This guys lawyer should ALSO have to do the time (if any), for being such a dimwit.

EyeintheLAsky

@shamoononon: ROCK ON BACON

carmen masturbates to her unix book

Just another case of the gov't f'ing you in the A

CODIFEROUS

BACON

shamoononon

There were 14 in the cooler, are we supposed to assume he already finished 10 of his case of keystone?

ha ha more Bacon

Voltron's Underwear

@shenanigans61:
Ahaha

Seriously, it's a comments section... who honestly will take the time to read all that.

Metkis

@shamoononon: One of the many reasons I added you as a friend. :)
Shamoononon for the next Commenter Hall of Fame!

shenanigans61

@Metkis: actually*

Metkis

@Metkis: Well, I retract that, it's ctually an insightful read.

Metkis

@EyeintheLAsky: Or just get drunk off your cruzin cooler...

tiredman9

If its not the War on Terror, This is what the f*** we're wasting tax dollars on.... are you serious? Can we take some of that money and put it into our education system or healthcare system. Hell... I still don't understand why there are some parts in the US without running water.

Seanross

@EyeintheLAsky:
"First off: i don't claim to be a lawyer." [...]

Damn son, this ain't the UAE. Quit taking up so much real estate!

=/

discounteggroll

We MUST act, and act swiftly to prevent the scourge of drunken cooler drivers. Think of the children who watch this bastard, and wish they could emulate his evil activities. I would advocate the harshest possible penalties for this evil scum.

TheDormouse

LOOKOUT! A COOLER IS HEADING RIGHT FOR US!
"Owww....my pinky toe. I think it is broken...no...it's contused...well maybe just mildly irritated. How dare you 'drive' drunk!"

Saboth

@ideaman2020: Technically only Residents are required to pay taxes, but Wesley Snipes is still in prison. One day, men may be ruled by laws and not by the will of other men. In the meantime, pay your taxes and operate only your feet when under an influence.

Killjoy

@EyeintheLAsky:

First off: i don't claim to be a lawyer.

Good thing.

A "motor vehicle" pertains to transportation IN COMMERCE.

That means, s/he would have to be PAID to drive it, for it to qualify as being used IN COMMERCE.

My car isn't a motor vehicle...it's my automobile. Used for personal use. For it to fall within the definition of a 'motor vehicle', i would have to have a permit to transport anyone other than me - for payment!

Q: Where do you go to get a Drivers License or Registration?

A: Department of Motor Vehicles.

Technically, they're not Motor Vehicles, they're Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles [unless they're electric or gas/electric hybrids]...

ideaman2020

The DUI laws in some states are too ridiculous. In some states, you can get a DUI with you have your car keys with you when you are standing near your vehicle. I've heard of people getting a DUI while sleeping in the backseat of their car because they didn't want to drive home drunk.

He should get a public intoxication citation and a medal for having the guts to drive such a ridiculous contraption in public.

0150r

@Killjoy: Actually, according to the laws passed by the elected representatives of the United States, citizens are required to pay taxes no matter where in the world they live.

The law may not compare favorably to most other developed countries (which tend to tax based on residency), but if you don't like it you can always trade in your passport.

Sihanouk-s-Poodle

@EyeintheLAsky: Well it is a good thing you are not a lawyer because your whole premis is completely wrong. It would help if you knew thw actual term for "motor vehicle" in NY State. See it would be important to know that before souting off on a message board.

Here is NY States definition of "motor vheicle":"§ 125. Motor vehicles. Every vehicle operated or driven upon a public
highway which is propelled by any power other than muscular power"

Not sure where you got your infromation on "motor vehicles" but you may want to stop listening to college professors or stay off the constitutionalist web sites for your definitons. It appears by your name you are in CA? Well CA state does not use your definition either and I don't believe you will find in any STATE law that defiiton for a motor vehicle.

That was a lot of words though...to bad the whole basis for your rantwas incorrect.

max11221

@Sihanouk-s-Poodle: The technicality is over the wording of tax laws, which often refer to Residents of the United States. Capital-R Resident is a legal classification of person that is separate from the classification of Sovereign Citizen, hence the technicality.

Mentioning the discrepancy does not imply an endorsement, by the way, but thanks for adding the same "then leave" comment that gets offered any time I see this issue discussed.

Killjoy

@Metkis: Yeah, but I'm lazy, and I stop at Giz to skitter around and check out new stuff. Reading a brief is one of the last of my concerns :)

shenanigans61

@EyeintheLAsky: NICE

VENAT0R

@max11221: So, when did sidewalks become "public highways"?

gibson042

@gibson042:
Sidewalks are "public highways" according to NYS Vehicle and Traffic law...

§ 134. Public highway. Any highway, road, street, avenue, alley, public place, public driveway or any other public way.

[public.leginfo.state.ny.us]

Metric_Inch

We are the factory and we have been waiting for this so we can fix the stupid laws and make DWI laws for what it was intended, to keep intoxicated people from driving thousand pound cars into people or other cars at speed. You can run faster than a cooler! If we can find the guy we will come to the rescue, enough of the political BS. A 250 lb man running into you can do more damage than a 150# woman on a cooler at full speed. What a waste of taxpayer money. Kevin Beal Cooler Scooter, Ltd. Hong Kong USA-512-762-8579 China Cell +86 13626796757 F)512-263-0050 kevin@cruzincooler.com www.coolerscooter.com PATENTS PENDING

KenwayHorn

He was riding on a Cooler, now he will be inside one after adjudication.

jazz1

I just lost my last little tiny speck of hope for mankind.

purpletarzan

Wow. I just lost that tiny little speck of hope I had for mankind.

purpletarzan

Oh come on!! Like the guys is really going to cause any harm! Let the man be.

Tegan