Should drunken cyclists be treated like drunken motorists?

Dropzone-dog__

My final word on this subject some of you may like to hear is this.

In the year 2000 70 cyclists in the uk were prosecuted for riding under the influence of drugs or alcohol 58 were found guilty.

2001 the figures are 46 & 38
2002 the figures are 44 & 38
2003 the figures are 55 & 43
2004 the figures are 45 & 40
Source for those figures is Hansard following a request in the houses of parliment.

Forgive me if my maths is wrong but, that equates to less than 1 conviction a week on average.
If it really was such a widespread problem then should we not expect to see cyclists sprawled across the road following collisions with stationery or other moving objects due to alcohol or drugs taken by the rider being a factor?

Introducing legislation to deal with a more or less none existent problem leads to the state taking further liberty from you.
I do not advocate going down that route.

I absolutely agree with the point made that we tend to be a self regulating group.
Any error of judgement on our parts leads to ourselves being hurt & snapping our bling carbon fibre frames.

Drivers are protected by a safety cage with crumple zones for extra protection hence the primary responsibility for self preservation is removed from the equation.

Once the instinct for self preservation is taken out of the equation then, the law must step in to protect others from the consequences of our actions.That is why in my opinion a pedal cyclist with alcohol or drugs in their bloodstream should in no way whatsoever be compared to a motorised vehicle being driven by a person under the influence.

Stone Glider

bluesacs +1
A "drunken cyclist" is not taking charge of 1tonne+ of lethal machinery.