Man in wheelchair charged with drunk driving
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Police in Australia have charged a man for drink driving in a motorized wheelchair after he was found to be six times over the legal alcohol limit, local media reported on Monday.
Police in the tropical northern Queensland city of Cairns said the man had a blood alcohol reading of 0.31, and was so drunk he was asleep at the controls of his motorized wheelchair in a turning lane of a major highway.
"It beggars belief," Police Inspector Bob Walters told the Cairns Post newspaper, adding wheelchairs, bicycles, horses and skateboards were all considered to be vehicles under the state's road laws.
"It's unlawful, it is unacceptable and people should realize it could lead to a fatality," he said.
Other motorists on the four-lane highway had to swerve to avoid the wheelchair, police said.
(Reporting by James Grubel; Editing by David Fox)
