Motor Vehicles – OWI — motorized bicycles

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Wisconsin Court of Appeals

Criminal

Motor Vehicles – OWI — motorized bicycles

A bicycle with a motor is a motor vehicle under the OWI statute.

“This case involves an allegation that Thomas Koeppen consumed alcohol and operated a particular type of vehicle defined in the traffic statutes. The vehicle at issue is a motor bicycle and, for the unfamiliar reader, it is sufficient to say in this introduction that a motor bicycle is essentially a bicycle with a motor added, such that the bicycle can be pedaled or can be self-propelled using the motor. The question posed here is whether the operator of a motor bicycle who is either operating while under the influence of an intoxicant (OWI) or operating with a prohibited alcohol concentration (PAC) violates the OWI/PAC statute, WIS. STAT. § 346.63(1). The answer to this question hinges on whether a ‘motor bicycle’ as defined in WIS. STAT. § 340.01(30) is a ‘motor vehicle’ as that term is defined in § 340.01(35) and used in the OWI/PAC statute. Unlike the circuit court, we conclude that a plain-language reading of the statutes leads to the conclusion that a ‘motor bicycle’ is a ‘motor vehicle’ within the meaning of these statutes, at least when the motor bicycle being operated is self-propelled, rather than pedaled.”

Reversed and Remanded.

Recommended for publication in the official reports.

2013AP2539-CR State v. Koeppen

Dist. II, Waukesha County, Bohren, J., Lundsten, J.

Attorneys: For Appellant: Osborne, Kevin M., Waukesha; Sanders, Michael C., Madison; For Respondent: York, Katie R., Madison