Appeals court: Motorized bicycle considered a vehicle

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A motorized bicycle is considered a motor vehicle, at least for the purposes of a drunken driving charge, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.

Thomas Koeppen was arrested in June 2013 after interfering with a traffic stop involving an automobile, according to the appellate court’s published decision. He led police on a chase on his motorized bicycle before being apprehended.

A test later showed that Koeppen had a 0.175 blood-alcohol content, and police said he had an open bottle of vodka and three knives. He was charged with obstructing an officer, resisting an officer, carrying a concealed weapon, fifth or sixth offense operating while under the influence of an intoxicant and fifth or sixth offense operating with a prohibited alcohol concentration.

But Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren threw the last two charges out, agreeing with the defendants that a “motor bicycle” is not a motor vehicle.

But the appeals court, in a decision authored by District 2 Judge Paul Lundsten, reversed Bohren’s decision and sent it back to allow prosecutors to refile the OWI charges.

According to the decision, a “motor bicycle” is a “motor vehicle” under the law, since the law states that “every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported.” Another section of the law states that a vehicle is “self-propelled,” even if bicycles aren’t treated as motor vehicles all the time.

“The fact that motor bicycles are ‘generally’ treated ‘similarly’ to bicycles does not mean that they are always treated similarly or the same,” according to the decision.

The court also sidestepped arguments made by Koeppen’s counsel that treating a motor bicycle as a motor vehicle would lead to those riding them to use traffic lanes.

The DOJ and the State Public Defender’s office, who worked on the case for the prosecution and defense, respectively, did not immediately return messages Friday.

The case is the second time in the past few months that the appellate court has sought to further define a “motor vehicle” for the purpose of an OWI charge. In May, the court ruled that a utility terrain vehicle is not a motor vehicle, since the UTV was registered with the state Department of Natural Resources. Follow @eheisigWLJ