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Trail drinking

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mason72

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I'm curious about the potential to have any issues in Moab but would like to hear any opinions or instances of issues.
We always take some beer with us and have a few on the trails and during some stops. We've never had any issues with rangers or sheriff's but I'm not even sure of the legality of it although I would assume you could still get a DUI.
Thanks Sean.
 
Are you talking at Blazer Bash, on a event trail run your registered in? or just abstract wheeling in Moab?...the later gets you a DUI and the consequences of whatever screw up you did.. the former along with the DUI could be the event loosing its insurance rider, The BLM revoking the permit, refusing to ever issue another one and couple of hundred very pissed off CK5 members.

Anyone remember what BB year was it that drunk guy going by rolled his RZR on Trifecta in front of all of us and compound fractured his girlfriends arm? We had to free them both from the flipped over RZR or they'd still be there. He refused to take her to the hospital said she was fine..you could literally see the bone in her elbow Russell ended up driving them out to the hospital while someone else towed the RZR back to town, after we told that guy he was gonna get an ass beating if he didn't straighten out and let her go to the hospital. No poor judgement there.

Save that stuff for camp where it belongs
 
On the East coast, private parks make up the majority of the places to wheel. The enforcement of the rules on drinking on the trails for the most part are left up to owners of the park. Yes I've heard about people getting a DUI, but it's pretty rare. From what I heard it was because the person got shitty with the people asking them to leave the park.
 
In Idaho at least most trails are considered roads. So it's an open container law type of thing.

I have been on lots of trail rides. I know some guys that drink a couple throughout the whole day. No matter what. The vast majority who drink on the trail though are drunk by the end of the day.

At an event like blazer bash I would imagine it's an absolute no no.

I have had alot of bad experience with drinking on the trail, some leading to injuries, some to damage to rigs, and a couple of times leading to me fixing crap I should not have had too on an other rigs.
 
As a recovering alcoholic I can see both sides of this clearly.

On one hand I don't feel a responsible person having 1-3 beers over the course of a day will hurt anything. But on the other hand I also realize that there are about 10% of the world's population who truly are responsible drinkers. It's almost impossible to do. And most people who think they are are in fact not. Especially factoring in wheeling, excitement and groups of friends. People tend to go over with it.

The main concern isn't BB, DUI's, CK5, or any of that stuff. The financial burden passes and any friends you may lose can be replaced to a point. It's potentially yours or someone else's life. or both. And it can be taken from you or them in an instant over a two beer decision on just the wrong kind of day. That is something that can never be gotten back. And it's just always some 3 second decision that normally would be a stupid simple one that gets you or someone else hurt or even killed or a rig wiped out.

It's just not worth it. Drink a case of soda and when you get back then a case of beer. Or even two cases. Hell then it's cool. You know when you wake up your wife, child, yourself or one of your buddies won't be dead and your rig won't be totalled.
 
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For Utah, or at least the BLM area in Moab, it's the same as @blazinzuk mentioned for ID. All the typical rules of the roads for UT apply to the BLM trails as if they were a regular paved road. That is stated in our event permit stipulations for Blazer Bash. I know it's pretty uncommon for BLM to be out patrolling for day to day routine but it's a little more likely to happen when they know there's a group there like for Blazer Bash.

There is definitely no shortage of traffic enforcement in and around Moab by city and county patrols. We were pulled over one year right in front of the campground where everyone was hanging out. The reason was a lack of rear bumper and hence no license plate light, but I'm sure it was really a sobriety check. Everyone was having a good laugh at us.

Another concern I would have as a trail leader is dehydration. In early September it gets damn hot on some days and if you end up on the trail for a long day it could get pretty uncomfortable if you haven't been keeping up with water intake. I usually end up passing out quite a few bottles of water to the bicyclists on the trails too.
 
There is far too much drunk fun at the camps already. :woot::D
Leave trail drinking up to Jack. :waytogo:
 
Consuming alcoholic beverages impairs your judgment, even one beer. The problem being is that alcohol makes it so one can no longer judge that their judgment is impaired even slightly. When wheeling, everyone needs to have a clear head, drivers and passengers alike. It's not just the driving. Slips, trips, and falls can have equally unfortunate outcomes. Plus, there's driving back to camp/home on the pavement...

We all rely on each other on the trail. I've been known to have an adult beverage or two back at camp. Alcohol (and other intoxicants - legal or not) do not belong on the trail.
 
drinking and trail riding is NOT a good way to show others how 95% of the rest of us people use the trails .

reg people only remember the drunks / trash dumpers / trespassers / a$$hats . and this gets the 95%ers a bad name .

so if you want to drink and trail play do it on your own land please .
 
There is still what is left of a jeep somewhere out here in colorado, been there for several years, the guy driving it killed himself and allegedly his 8 year old kid because he was drunk and rolled it into a ravine. I haven't seen it personally, but it would have to be helicoptered out according to those who have seen it...
 
Never drink and drive period!

Been there done that a f*cking idiot, no one was hurt and I got off.

Really worth it?

Same with house wiring I only hire pro because slight chance and my family lives on the house and not taking a risk.
 
Seems like I saw something on here recently about I guy being charged with manslaughter because he was drunk and rolled his jeep killing his passenger.

I see way too many drinking and riding around here, some at parks and some on trails in national forest, which are considered public roads and generally you have to travel public roads to get to and from.

For some people, including several I know, drinking and wheeling go hand in hand. To me it's a black eye on the sport. People here see my scout and automatically assume drunk rednecks bouncing through mud puddles and it annoys me.

Alcohol belongs at camp or home when the wheelin is all done.
 
^^^ Agreed... I like to drink.. trust me I drink a bit too much (socially and I socialize all the time)... however, just a few beers, slight buzz, tag a tree or something and it is annoying and the next day (or soberer time) you sit there and don't remember how fun it was. Now this is just me, but I put drinking and wheeling with night wheeling, yes many like it but in the end, I cant see much and cant really enjoy the full sport.

get to camp and chill out with the brews and stories around the camp fire!!!!!
 
I noticed none of the posters in this thread are from Wisconsin. You guys should see the crazy ass laws there.

You can drink in a bar @16 with your folks. (I think that changed to 18 now)

You can drink at 18 if it's part of your
employment. (Whatever that means?)

A DUI is a simple ticket of $860. And you go on your way.
Only after a few do they start cracking down (a past co-worker had 5 DUIs and still had a license)

And I always heard you can have a beer open in the truck if you on your way home from work.(I think this law was changed years ago)

Just some food for thought.
But. I've drank on the trail.... More then once.... younger, dumber....

But, I wouldn't do it now...
 
Forest service land - the law is here - 36 CFR 261.58(bb).

The nutshell is USFS (any public land for that matter) mirrors the State's law where the land is located. Moab - Utah - their law is here https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title41/Chapter6A/41-6a-P5.html

but let me give you the nutshell on that.

In Utah, on June 1, 2018, .05% is DUI. Of course, open container laws apply as well and are enforced vigorously. Worst of all, as you'd be popped on Federal land, it's a Federal crime and as such subject to Federal prison sentences.

Don't drive with an open container - seriously - the biggest issue (for you) is that if anything happens it's punishment plus an impaired driving charge. That really means that you'll have no excuse, strict liability, and severe punishment (for something that may, actually, not be your fault at all). For us it's yet another newspaper headline about a drunk four wheeler who injured or killed someone.

That said, I'm quite glad you asked because the only stupid decisions are ones that stem from being concerned about the reaction to the question.
 
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I don't have a dog in the fight because I don't drink, but why would one want to drink and impair themselves while using a motor vehicle for any purpose. Its all fun until someone gets hurt right. Leave the drinking at camp. It only takes one stupid mistake to end a good day. Sorry for the rant but I feel this should be a non issue with responsible people.
 
I've been known to have a few on the trail, and at times a few too many on the trail. I've gotten really lucky a few times that I didn't get busted or really break things bad when I've had a few too many. There was a time that I was an expert trail drunk. Trust me some of my best moments have been when I was lit up, I have poor judgment sober and it doesn't take much to remove all judgement from me and I'll do cool things in my Buggy.

That said, I've gotten to the point that a drink here or there on the trail (think 2-3 beers in a 10 hr. period) isn't a huge deal to me. What is a big deal, as I've matured? (is that happening?) is the drunks on the trail. I'm not a fan, I know I've been that guy too though. I also classify the group I'm with, If it's me and a select few guys and we're camping near the trail I will have a few drinks, if I have a kid with me I either don't drink or only have one.

There is a time and place for everything, if you are responsible you know how and when a beer on the trail is appropriate. I now try to make sure I have more water in the cooler than alcohol, (maturity or old age? Camp is for drinking, trails are for driving.
 
2-3 beers. That's the answer every DUI driver gives to the cops when asked... being a career drunk isn't really something anyone should try to be, I know - I tried it and have been a friend of Bill W. since 1998.

Which leads me back to the point I was trying to make - my point is they (the cops and the victim representatives) WILL throw the book at you no matter how well you have built a tolerance to alcohol. You will not get the opportunity to demonstrate in Court how well you can handle the "2-3 beers" rather you will be judged as impaired because the standard isn't you, it's either the reasonable person standard or the numeric standard (BAC) which will convict you. The only thing that alcohol does for you in Court is make the penalty far worse and the potential losses exponentially greater. John Q Public is tired of hearing someone tell how they "accidentally" had too many or that "they are good drivers, even when drunk." Our justice system does still allow lynching of perps and if you had alcohol in your system, it gives them the right to take it all away from you.

What would be a terrible tragedy of someone being injured or killed on the trail becomes a bankrupting, felony-inducing issue where you were right - and you can repeat that mantra to yourself while in your jail cell - "it wasn't the alcohol that caused the accident." That is correct, it was you and you, according to the law, were impaired. Seriously, it's not worth it.
 
superbuickguy said:
2-3 beers. That's the answer every DUI driver gives to the cops when asked... being a career drunk isn't really something anyone should try to be, I know - I tried it and have been a friend of Bill W. since 1998.

Which leads me back to the point I was trying to make - my point is they (the cops and the victim representatives) WILL throw the book at you no matter how well you have built a tolerance to alcohol. You will not get the opportunity to demonstrate in Court how well you can handle the "2-3 beers" rather you will be judged as impaired because the standard isn't you, it's either the reasonable person standard or the numeric standard (BAC) which will convict you. The only thing that alcohol does for you in Court is make the penalty far worse and the potential losses exponentially greater. John Q Public is tired of hearing someone tell how they "accidentally" had too many or that "they are good drivers, even when drunk." Our justice system does still allow lynching of perps and if you had alcohol in your system, it gives them the right to take it all away from you.

What would be a terrible tragedy of someone being injured or killed on the trail becomes a bankrupting, felony-inducing issue where you were right - and you can repeat that mantra to yourself while in your jail cell - "it wasn't the alcohol that caused the accident." That is correct, it was you and you, according to the law, were impaired. Seriously, it's not worth it.
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I understand and respect your point, but to counter that;

Say I have a beer with an early lunch say at 11:00, then we finish the trail at 3:00 and BS for an hour while I have another beer and before the hour+ long drive out to the trail head. I wasn't actively drinking while driving and didn't just slam a beer and take off again in either instance. Assuming these are typical mass produced beers and not a higher alcohol content beer my BAC should never exceed the legal limits for DUI.

I've had 2 beers "on the trail" but I've done it in such a way as to never have a BAC level that is too high and for the typical person judgement isn't significantly impaired by a single beer. This is my idea of reasonable and responsible alcohol consumption on the trail.

Are the state laws actually written in such a way that if we go out to dinner and I have a singular drink with that meal I should as the average person be fine? That's for all intents what I've described above. Now there are technicalities with open container laws and public land etc. that might cause issues as well.

Sitting back and drinking 2 or 3 beers in a row or doing the steady drinking thing all day net's you your example and I understand where your going with that.
 
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