Easy, riders. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Earlier I pointed out that you're completely liable to get a DUI for driving a moped drunk. Well, apparently that's now officially true of driving pedicabs, too. The D.C. government released its new regulations on pedicabs earlier today. Among the regulations is the following proviso: No one can operate a pedicab "while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug or any combination thereof, or while the ability to operate a vehicle is impaired by the consumption of intoxicating liquor."

Elsewhere in the document is a fun bit of classification news. The pedicab falls under the province of a bicycle! There's no motor, so that makes sense enough. But the classification still made me smile after observing the fuss made over how to classify mopeds before.

The other regulations mandate that pedicab drivers can't tie the vehicles to parking meters or light poles, operate or park them on sidewalks, travel on roads with postings over 30 miles/hour, and that a pedicab can't operate without turn lights and other safety measures. Passengers must be seated and wear seat belts. The regulations are all so very orderly! No drinking and no standing in our District pedicabs. Drivers do need a bell that can be heard from 100 feet away, though, and that's pretty fun.

Hat tip to the folks at DCist, who also observed an emerging question — what will the enforcement of these new regulations look like?