Judge rules ice rink groomer can't be charged with DUI at wheel of Zamboni

Mpls. (Red) Star Tribune ^ | today | staff

[Rodney King]

NEWARK, N.J — It's not drunken driving in New Jersey if it involves a Zamboni.

A judge ruled the four-ton ice rink-grooming machines aren't motor vehicles because they aren't useable on highways and can't carry passengers.

Zamboni operator John Peragallo had been charged with drunken driving in 2005 after a fellow employee at the Mennen Sports Arena in Morristown told police the machine was speeding and nearly crashed into the boards.

Police said Peragallo's blood alcohol level was 0.12 percent. A level of 0.08 is considered legally drunk in New Jersey.

[Rodney King]

FYI

[LibKill]

But, but, but, Zambonis can KILL!

In Cheers one of Carla's many husbands was run over by a Zamboni and killed!

Think of the children!

[Army Air Corps]

Friends don’t let friends drink and groom ice.

[Alberta's Child]

New Jersey hockey ping. LOL.

[verum ago]

LOL... so you can't get a DUI on a zamboni, but you can get one on a horse!

[ThermoNuclearWarrior]

The Judge is right.

[sionnsar]

The Judge is right.

[Caramelgal]

"The Judge is right."

How so? You are probably right as that technically it may not have been “drunk driving” since the driver wasn’t careening down a highway behind the wheel of the Zamboni.

But wouldn’t this at least count as reckless endangerment for operating heavy machinery under the influence?

Does this mean some drunk can drive his lawn tractor off his lawn, down my sidewalk, into my local school yard and through my local mall and not face any charges because the lawn tractor is not useable on highways and can't carry passengers?

”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.

I hate when stupid people get off on stupid technicalities.

[Revelation 911]

a shot of Sambuca with his breakfast coffee and two Valium-pills before work.

what an idiot......sambuca is better with espresso and stella doro butter fingers

[diogenes ghost]

You equate operating a Zamboni on an empty ice rink with operating something else in a schoolyard and a mall? I hate it when stupid people get off by making stupid comparisons.

[snarkytart]

LOL... so you can’t get a DUI on a zamboni, but you can get one on a horse!
____
And on a bicycle.

(um...don’t ask)

[Atlas Sneezed]

But wouldn’t this at least count as reckless endangerment for operating heavy machinery under the influence?

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But that requires different elements to make up that crime, which the prosecutor could (undoubtedly) not prove.

[Atlas Sneezed]

I hate when stupid people get off on stupid technicalities.

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Let his boss decide whether to fire him. We don’t need government involved in ever case of dangerous employee misbehavior.

[ThermoNuclearWarrior]

The blood/alcohol level has been lowered so much by ignorant people that you can be legally drunk when you are not drunk at all. Everyone is against getting drunk and driving but the way they keep lowering the legal limit is ridiculous. It’s just another way the government can steal peoples money while acting like they are doing it for a noble cause.

[ladyjane]

a shot of Sambuca with his breakfast coffee and two Valium-pills before work. I hate when stupid people get off on stupid technicalities.

Stupid is right. The plural of valium is valia.

[Caramelgal]

You equate operating a Zamboni on an empty ice rink with operating something else in a schoolyard and a mall? I hate it when stupid people get off by making stupid comparisons. .

Congratulations! You win my prize for the most ill reasoned and gratuitously mean post of the week by calling me “stupid” just because you disagree with me! Way to go. You could disagree with me and offer reasons why but no, you had to resort to calling me stupid while offering nothing of substance to this conversation.

Consider that evidently this “stupid” drunken jerk's co-workers didn’t find his work habits all that funny. I suggest you may want to apply for a job where a blood alcohol level 0.12 percent qualifies you and your co-workers to operate a four ton piece of equipment. And if you had a kid skating at this ice rink (even if they were not on the ice at the time but behind one of those boards the drunk in question repeatedly crashed into), would you find this comparison so stupid then? Would you feel any better if you or a family member was killed by a drunk driving a car on the highway vs. a drunk operating some other dangerous piece of equipment off the highway?

He omitted to drinking and taking drugs before going to work. Ask yourself, just how did he get to work then? Did he take a cab? Did Wayne Gretksy offer him a ride in his personal Zambonie? How did he get home and did he need some more Samboa and Valiaim for his trip home?

I really hate when stupid people get off by being stupid and calling other people stupid while not grasping the obvious and rather than engaging in meaningful and intelligent dialogue and resorting to calling names before thinking the argument through.

[Caramelgal]

Let his boss decide whether to fire him. We don’t need government involved in ever case of dangerous employee misbehavior.

OK, then let’s suppose a driver of a bus is found to have caused a serious or fatal accident while under the influence of drugs and or alchohol – so this is not a criminal matter and we should just file a complaint with the bus company and hope they make the right decision?

[Yo-Yo]

If the Zamboni was being operated on private property, not public roads, the police have no jurisdiction to issue a DUI.

[Atlas Sneezed]

OK, then let’s suppose a driver of a bus is found to have caused a serious or fatal accident while under the influence of drugs and or alchohol – so this is not a criminal matter and we should just file a complaint with the bus company and hope they make the right decision?

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No. We have different rules for roads and public property than for private ice rinks.

[ColdWater]

>>Does this mean some drunk can drive his lawn tractor off his lawn, down my sidewalk, into my local school yard and through my local mall and not face any charges because the lawn tractor is not useable on highways and can’t carry passengers?

No. Be sensible.