Court: Driving drunk on riding mower same as a vehicle

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin appeals court has ruled that operating a riding mower while drunk carries the same penalties as driving a car while intoxicated.

The ruling Tuesday came in the case of a northern Wisconsin man who was arrested for drunken driving in 2017. Police pulled Keith Shoeder over while he was operating a riding mower on the streets of Rhinelander after leaving a tavern.

Shoeder appealed his conviction of a fourth offense drunken driving.

Shoeder argued that the charge should be dismissed, contending the riding mower was an all-terrain vehicle and not a motor vehicle and therefore he was not subject to the same penalties.

But the District 3 Court of Appeals disagreed. It upheld an Oneida County Circuit Court ruling, saying a riding mower is a motor, not an all-terrain, vehicle.