Poland sees drunken cyclists as criminals

WARSAW, Poland, April 7 (UPI) -- The Polish Constitutional Court has ruled drunken bicyclists could be punished the same way as drunken motorists and not as intoxicated pedestrians.

Intoxicated car and motorbike drivers are sanctioned under a penal code that deals with criminal offenders and, as of now, so will drunken cyclists in Poland will be treated likewise, the Polish news.pl Web site said Tuesday.

For driving a bicycle, drunken Poles will face a fine and up to two years in jail, just as drunken motorists do, depending on their ability to "manage movement on land, in water or in air."

Drunken pedestrians are sanctioned under offensive statutes and face temporary police detention and fines.

The Constitutional Court was acting on a move submitted by western Poland's regional court in the Lubusz region.