Orange County Computer Lawyer Blog

Man Loses License for Three Years for DUI in Motorized Barbie Car

A man in the UK is looking at the prospect of losing his driving privileges for three years after he was found driving under the influence. It would have been a non-newsworthy item, except that the vehicle he was driving was a motorized Barbie car, capable of going at thunderous maximum speeds of 4 mph.

Paul Hutton is not what Mothers Against Drunk Driving likes to portray as the archetypal DUI offender in this country. He’s a former aeronautical engineer who used to work with the Royal Air Force. Apparently, he also likes to tinker around with toys. As part of a family project, Hutton added bigger wheels to a Barbie motorized car. On the day of the by now much-publicized DUI incident, Hutton was taking the car over to a friend’s house to show him the vehicle. He was pulled over by police, and was administered a breathalyzer test.

The results showed him to be above the legal limit of alcohol, and he was arrested. He has been convicted of driving under the influence. Because he had at least one other drunk driving offense over the past 10 years, the judge ordered that his license be revoked for a period of three years. He was also asked to pay court fees amounting to $130.

As far as excessive punishment for drunk driving goes, this one takes cake and the factory. It’s hard to understand what possible danger he could have been to other motorists on the road, riding a motorized Barbie car that could go at a maximum of 4 mph. At those speeds, a pedestrian could outrun the car.

Hutton also has been a model defendant, admitting that what he did was silly. He has also sounded very contrite about the stupidity of his actions. To a California DUI lawyer, this doesn’t sound like an intoxicated motorist on the rampage. It just sounds like what it is – a nerdy 40-year-old engineer proud of his motorized toy, and too drunk to know he looks extremely silly driving it. Three years of license suspension for silliness? Really??