By William M. Welch,  USA TODAY, LOS ANGELES – Law enforcement’s battle against drunken driving has a new target: bicyclists.

“We were having some issues with fatal bicycle collisions in the area,” California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer Adrian Quintero says. “A lot of the issues we were having were bicyclists under the influence crossing over the center (line) and being struck.”

CHP officers last week charged seven bicyclists with riding under the influence during a one-night crackdown in Sacramento. But California is not the only state watching for wobbly bicyclists.

Most states require bike riders to follow the rules of the road same as car drivers, according to the League of American Bicyclists, which supports enforcement.

“My first thought would be, ‘I’m sure glad they’re riding a bike and not driving a car,’ ” says K.C. Butler, executive director of the California Bicycle Coalition.

Butler wonders whether police need to mount an intense effort to snare drunken riders as in California, where drunken riding is considered so significant that the highway patrol received a state-federal grant to enforce traffic laws for bicyclists in the Sacramento area.

After all, Butler says, he has often gone home on a bicycle after having a few drinks.

“I could have been a candidate many times,” he says.

In California, riding while under the influence is punishable by up to a $250 fine, according to the highway patrol. But the money is only part of the punishment. A rider caught drunk is arrested and must remain in a jail cell until he sobers up. The arrest becomes part of a criminal record, though it does not affect one’s driving record or insurance. A rider may dispute the assessment by asking for a breath, blood or urine test.

Quintero says officers look for equipment violations, too, just as they would for stopped cars.

“A lot of bicyclists don’t understand they are obligated in California to stop (at stop signs and signals), signal turning movements, drive in the same direction of traffic,” Quintero says. They also must have lights after dark and rear reflectors at all times, he says.

Rather than setting up roadblocks, Quintero says police cruise streets looking for bicycles (and cars) being driven erratically or in a way that suggested impairment, such as weaving or crossing a center line.

When asked whether this was an effective use of police time, Quintero says absolutely.

“You can have severe injuries and or death when you have bicyclists” collide with cars, he says. “When we get these individuals off the streets, we’re also protecting the community.”

Andy Clarke, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists, agrees.

“We want to have the same rights and responsibilities as motor vehicle operators,” he says. “If this is a documented public safety issue . . . it’s absolutely legitimate for police to be cracking down on it.”