Sambuca On Ice? New Jersey’s ZUI Case
posted by Dan Filler
I like this story. Zamboni driver John Pergallo was charged with, and convicted of, driving under the influence. From the report:
Peragallo, 64, testified at his trial that he did drink beer and vodka, but not until after he had groomed the ice. However, he told police he had a shot of Sambuca with his breakfast coffee and two Valium-pills before work.
Apparently he operated his machine with a BAC of .12. This is well above New Jersey’s .08 limit for operating motor vehicles on the road. But the Superior Court reversed holding that the state DUI laws didn’t cover the act of driving a Zamboni in a sports arena. Perhaps we should be worried about ZUI’s, but I suspect that the legislature simply didn’t imagine ice grooming while drunk when it crafted the statute. (And did it consider rider mowers and floor buffers, for that matter? Buffing under the influence?)
This holding surely warms the hearts of those hockey players who’ve taken the old Zamboni out for a drunken spin after a late night practice. If you haven’t give it a try, you’d better hurry. The Regulatory State of New Jersey will surely modify it’s laws to face down this frozen menace.
Who knew that smoothing out a rink was so stressful, anyway?
April 3, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Posted in: Criminal Law
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Responses (2)
Matt - April 3, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Perhaps it is not as funny as the Zamboni case but at Minnesota (I think- maybe it was Michigan) has a DUI law that covers not only driving on roads but also on frozen lakes and rivers. I guess if you have lots of ice fishermen such a law might well make sense.
James Grimmelmann - April 3, 2007 at 3:51 pm
No vehicles on the rink?
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