Driving Under the Influence…On a Wheelchair?

Did you know you can get pulled over for “driving” related issues even if you are not driving a car? Just because you are not behind the wheel of a car doesn’t mean you won’t get pulled over for a a DUI or other charge. There have been cases all over the country where “drivers” have been cited for reckless driving and driving under the influence even when they’re not driving a car!

In Sterling Heights, Michigan, Raymond Kulma was pulled over on a stolen wheelchair and was arrested for his 7th DUI. Police were called after an altercation Raymond had with his neighbor, and when they arrived, Raymond stole his neighbor’s motorized wheelchair and took off. After the police caught up to him, they tested his blood alcohol concentration at .241 on the breathalyzer (over 3 times the legal limit), and gave him a sobriety test which he failed miserably. Even after this arrest, Raymond Kulma’s license has been suspended another 4 times and revoked 2 times.

While a motorized wheelchair is probably the strangest object we’ve heard someone get pulled over on, there have been other strange incidents. For example, in Jackson Wisconsin, a sixty-nine year old man named Charles Gray went to jail for driving under the influence on his John Deer tractor! The police pulled him over while he was on his way to the local Walgreens store. This was his fourth offense of operating while intoxicated.

On January 30 2012, in Minnesota, Joel Bruss was arrested for a DUI at a local ice skating rink. He was caught drunk at the wheel of a Zamboni. You know, that huge machine that they use to resurface the ice? Onlookers knew something was wrong when Mr. Bruss slammed the machine into the sidewalls of the rink. When the police arrived they found that Bruss and the Zamboni were balanced half on the ice and half out. He was arrested (blood alcohol content was 4 times the legal limit) and sentenced to two years probation. This was Joel Bruss’s 3rd DUI and needless to say he lost his job at the ice rink and will not be put behind another Zamboni in his lifetime.

As you can see there is a pattern here… repeat offenders thinking they can avoid problems if they use alternate forms of transportation. It’s not that it’s common knowledge that you could get arrested on a wheelchair, tractor or Zamboni, but we should all know that the only safe option if you are intoxicated is to find a designated, sober driver to take the wheel (whatever that wheel may operate).