Riding Under the Influence In Arkansas? How Alcohol Impacts E-Bike Accident Claims

In this article, you will discover:

• Whether it’s legal to ride an e-bike after drinking alcohol in Arkansas.
• What happens if an impaired rider causes an e-bike accident.
• What evidence is typically used to prove impairment in e-bike cases.

Is It Legal To Ride An E-Bike After Drinking Alcohol In Arkansas?

Currently, Arkansas doesn’t have any biking-under-the-influence statutes. The DWI statute in Arkansas requires that you be operating a motor vehicle or a boat. An e-bike is neither.

However, just because the DWI statute doesn’t apply to e-bikes doesn’t mean that you should get drunk and ride around on one. You can still injure yourself, be held responsible for an accident and be charged with public intoxication or disorderly conduct.

What Happens If An Impaired Rider Causes An E-Bike Accident?

These are difficult claims because you’re not required to have insurance to ride an e-bike. Suppose somebody without substantial assets hit you. It will be challenging to get a contingency-fee attorney to take a case like this. Essentially, you’re throwing good money after bad if there’s no hope of recovery, and insurance is usually what provides the settlement funds for most recoveries.

Attorney Bradley Mullins is a skilled lawyer based in Fort Smith, Rogers, and Springdale, Arkansas, who has helped clients like you navigate the intricacies of personal injury law. With years of relevant experience, he is prepared to assist you in determining whether you have a viable personal injury claim if you’ve been injured in an e-bike accident so that you can receive the compensation you’re entitled to for your injuries.

Still have questions? Ready to get started? Contact Mullins & Blake Attorneys today to schedule an initial consultation.

Can I Still Pursue A Claim If I Was Injured But Had Been Drinking?

If you’re not at fault for the accident, you can bring a claim against the at-fault person for hitting your bike.

We’ve successfully litigated cases like this in a car-versus-car context, where our client was not at fault but was tested at the scene and found to be under the influence. You can still make a claim.

While you shouldn’t drink and drive, that doesn’t mean that someone can hurt you and avoid liability. If it wasn’t your fault, you should not be held accountable.

What Evidence Is Typically Used To Show Impairment In These Cases?

The officer on the scene may ask you to perform field sobriety tests and to take a portable breathalyzer test. You’re always entitled to refuse that.

If you refuse the breathalyzer test, the police can take you to jail under suspicion of being publicly intoxicated. Even if the police don’t have chemical evidence that you’re intoxicated, if you look intoxicated in the officer’s body cam footage, slur your words, smell of alcohol and fall over, that’s evidence of impairment also.

When you represent someone who was impaired and in a bike accident, you do everything you can to keep harmful evidence like that out while maximizing the damages and the negligence of the person who caused the accident.

Why Is Legal Guidance Important In E-Bike Accident Cases Involving Alcohol?

You don’t want the intoxication to be the center of your claim. Nor do you want to make harmful statements about drinking, being drunk, or not remembering what happened as a result.

You don’t need to say to any insurance company or anyone investigating your claim. If you have a skilled attorney, you have an advocate and a mouthpiece to speak favorably about the facts for you, so your claim doesn’t become devalued.

Still Have Questions? Ready To Get Started?

For more information on Arkansas DUI and e-bike accident claims, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (479) 227-3060 / (479) 412-HURT today.