Mower driver charged with drunk driving

The Toledo Blade is reporting that a Deshler man who admitted he had too much to drink before he decided to drive home on a riding lawn mower was charged with drunken driving, authorities said.

From the story:

Adam Reinbolt, 25, was arrested about 2 a.m. Sunday after the mower went into a ditch on State Rt. 18, just west of Hockenberry Road in Jackson Township, according to Wood County sheriff's reports.

Mr. Reinbolt said he was driving the mower from a friend's house to Deshler to mow lawns. When he saw a vehicle approaching from the east, he said he drove to the south side of the road to avoid the vehicle and went into the ditch.

He told the deputy he'd had "too much" beer to drink and subsequently failed field sobriety tests.

So WHY are we writing a story about a man arrested for DUI on a lawn mower on a website that focuses on self-defense rights?

Because according to the Insurance Information Institute, 75,000 accidental lawn mower injuries per year require emergency room treatment, yet less than 17,700 people received non-fatal injuries due to a firearms accident in 2001 (Centers for Disease Control).

Because when you add to that accidental number those injured intentionally, due to violent attack, the total number is still less than those injured by accident with lawn-mowers - 63,000.

Because there is no Ohio Coalition Against Lawn Mowers. Because the Million Mom March isn't ambulance-chasing and holding press conferences every time someone is injured with their Lawn Boy. Because Bob Taft isn't dictating legislation requiring that lawn mowers be stored safely and not be operated in the presence of children under 18.

But most of all, we're writing this story because unlike a firearm, no one's life has ever been saved with a lawn mower.