Claris Law Legal Blogging Community

Name:

E-mail:

Phone Number:

Zip Code:

Your Question:

Editor: Bob Battle
Profession: DUI Defense Lawyer

Category: Virginia DUI

A New Jersey judge has overturned a conviction for DUI against a man who was driving a Zamboni at an ice rink. The judge held that the Zamboni does not meet the definition of a "motor vehicle" under the New Jersey DUI statue.

The Zamboni driver, John Peragallo, was charged with DUI after a fellow employee told police that Peragallo was speeding and nearly crashed his huge ice scraping machine into the boards at an ice rink in Morristown New Jersey. His BAC was 0.12 percent when arrested, over New Jersey's limit of 0.08 for DUI. Peragallo appealed his conviction and a New Jersey Superior Court Judge overturned his license suspension. According to the judge, Peragallo was not operating a "motor vehicle" as defined in the DUI statute because a four-ton Zamboni is not usable on highways and cannot carry passengers.