For whatever odd reason, I find that responsible people who would never dream of getting behind the wheel after more than a couple of drinks think nothing of hopping on their bikes in the same circumstances. Which I have always thought is completely ludicrous. Because just as you can harm yourself and others when driving while intoxicated, you can do the exact same thing on a bicycle!
I stopped biking after more than a couple of drinks after a friend of mine ran into a car on the way home from the pub one night. (Yes, you read that right he ran into the car, not the other way around.) Fortunately, he was okay, just scrapped and bruised and shaken up, but it hammered home the danger of being drunk on a bike, namely that you have no hulking sheath of metal around you for protection.
It has yet to be determined if Darcy Allan Sheppard’s drinking played a role in his unfortunate death this past Monday night, but even if it did not, the message here is clear, that in any encounter between auto and bicycle, the car will always win. Think about that the next time you’re thinking about biking over for a session at the pub.
