Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, October 21, 1995                   TAG: 9510230117
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: OLYMPIA, WASH.                                LENGTH: Short

`BIKING WHILE INTOXICATED' CONVICTION IS OVERTURNED

Not that the judges recommend it, but the state Court of Appeals has ruled there's no law against riding a bicycle while intoxicated.

In its ruling this week, the court said the Legislature never intended the state's drunken driving laws to apply to bikes.

``Because bicycles do not have the force and speed of cars, a drunk bicyclist is not capable of causing the tremendous `carnage and slaughter' associated with drunk driving,'' wrote Judge Edward Fleisher.

The court ruled in a case in which a Montesano police officer stopped Daniel Wells at 3 a.m. because Wells' bike was swerving on a back street. A breath test indicated Wells' blood alcohol level was .13, above the legal limit for driving while intoxicated.

Wells, who acknowledged he'd been drinking but denied he was drunk, appealed. He said he was swerving to avoid potholes.