I got pulled over by the police last night riding my bike down my street in Luzern. I was pretty drunk, they tested me and I was over ... so off to the station.

Any one got an idea as to the process & penalties? From what I understood from them (I do not speak German) the fact that it was a bicycle and not a car made no difference... bummer.

They didnt give me any paperwork so I dont know what I blew, but by my calculations it would have been over 0.8... perhaps well over.

Fines I can handle.... but is jail time ever a possiblitiy here? Also would it effect my B Permit?

Cheers.

fine + driving ban, I reckon. You can be a criminal with a B permit

You have a problem.

If you have a driving licence it's gone, so don't tell them if you have one, unless you have a swiss one ,then they'll know.

Further, if your a passenger in a car and the driver is drunk and your drunk, you both loose your licence, reason if the driver takes ill you'll drive.

Jesus, I 'm no angel but these days with the limit so low, 0.5 I really thought everyone would have given up the idea of drinking and driving and riding bikes boozed up, not trying to lecture you, but to me it's just plain sense.

Anyway you will loose your licence, if you'v got one, if they know, and you won't be allowed to ride a mofa or your bike for a minimum of two months, the fine I reckon will be in the region of 250Frs plus costs of about +-400Frs, no jail sentence and it will not affect your permit, though they may write you a letter wrapping your knuckles.

If it is well over (1.5 ,) mmm,be prepared to visit a doctor, and if you do, say you were at a party and that it was a once only, and that normally you don't drink, and didi they test you for wacky backy?

Anyway all the best

They will proably take your bike clips away for a month. If you don't have any, they'll be after your lycra shorts...

There's a list of fines somewhere online.

thanks for the info folks and no drama with the lecture, it was nothing comapred to the one from my girlfriend.

i dont think they did a maraijuana test but luckily that is one vice i dont have.

it was a foolish thing to do, but youd be amazed - i am sitting in my living room now and i can see the bar i rode from. it must be all of 60 meters away. maybe 70 if you zigzig like i did.

why didnt i walk? well english or australian readers may be familiar with the ,streakers defence, ie, It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time.

oh and i was not in lycra. imagine....... in a swiss-german police cell wearing nothing but 8-way stretch. maybe they could find a 9th???

oh and any tps on where the list of fines are online? ive looked wihout success.

I can only say the following -- the rules became less stringent in 2005(?) when they reduced the limit for driving from 0.8 to 0.5. They raised the limit for biking from 0.8 to 1.2 -- at least on the federal level (I believe in the US that would be from 0.08 to 0.12 -- or is it the other way around?).

No clue about the fines.

It's illegal to ride a bicycle with more than 0.5 Promille. You will get a fine up to 150 Fr.

If you had more than 1.1 Promille, the police would've demanded a blood sample. This procedure costs an additional 300-400 Fr.

You won't lose a driver license because of drunk bicycling. But if the police suspects you of being an alcoholic, they can suspend the license until you make a test.

You won't get jail time either.

My Sources, in German:
1, 2

Hi Ekimov

Here's a list of a whole lot of things that you can get fined for in Switzerland. I haven't read it through completely but maybe you'll find what you want there.

Best of luck.

http://www.admin.ch/ch/d/sr/741_031/app1.html

Yes you can loose your licence,states it quite clearly in 2.

If the 'strassenverkehrsamt' believes you have an alcohol problem.

And these days if you are 'caught', with too much in you, they go into the automatic mode of alcohol problem.

Plus my mate, lost his licence after he was caught on his bike and he had 1.8 and he has definitely no alcohol problem, I think though it is also a Kantonal problem.

I doubt in Tessin or Valais they would take it so much to the extreme,but then again the levels are now so low, you might as well have 00.00 and then everyone knows where they stand.

Just the times we now live in.

Even federal laws are sometimes differently executed but I don't think there are additional cantonal laws.

The Strassenverkehrsamt has to support its suspicion with legal medicine which in this case includes at least the blood sample, in my opinion. If none was taken, the use of legal means could be promising.

It's a bit a difficult subject to find information about online. My personal experience in Zürich is that the police doesn't bother you if you're still able to bicycle in a mostly straight line. And I often go home late on my bike during weekends. It might help a bit that I always have a fully functional bicycle and the lights on, who knows.

Yeah,, it's like anything luck of the draw,and being in the wrong place at the wrong time and depends on what kind of cop stops you, and what beaurocratic no gooder decides he 's gonna try and make a name for himself.

Yeah I saw the first article before I posted, but was confused because the missus had insisted that they had raised it, and I vaguely remember reading it (or trying to -- back then my German was very weak). Thanks for the clarification .

Well we can assume ,that as you did'nt have to give any blood you just may have got away with it,don't go back to ask.

Well done, and good luck!!!!!!!!!!!