A few years ago he had a DUI violation, so he started riding a bike whenever he drank to avoid another one. After "having a few beers" July 4 last year, he was hit by a car while pedaling home from Narberth to Havertown - and then got arrested for drunken bicycling.

He was sentenced Wednesday to serve 15 consecutive weekends in jail - 30 days - plus 22 months' probation.

"I get rear-ended, I go to jail. Figure that one out," Burke said.

Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Anthony Gil did. And now, Burke, who was a driver for Kidz Towing before the bicycling DUI, will be relegated to answering calls and watching daytime television at his boss' Aston home, his driver's license suspended for up to 18 months.

Under Pennsylvania law, a bicycle is considered a vehicle and riders are subject to almost all of the same rules as drivers of cars and trucks.

"Here, the statute is clear," Gil said. "Someone on a bicycle is subject to the DUI statute and here Mr. Burke was pedaling his bicycle while under the influence on a roadway."

The driver whose car struck Burke's bike got a careless driving ticket, Gil said, but Burke was hard to see on that stretch of Wynnewood Road, in Ardmore.

"It was dark, he was wearing dark clothing, he was weaving in the middle of the road, and it was raining," Gil said.

Burke was treated at the scene, then he was taken to a hospital to have his blood-alcohol level tested. It measured 0.155, about twice the legal limit of 0.08, Gil said. Burke said he fractured his tailbone.

Burke contends that he was trying to cross the street to get onto the sidewalk in an effort to avoid traffic, and was at a median in the middle of the road when he was rear-ended and tossed onto the hood of the car. "The [driver] was just not paying attention to what she was doing. She was 100 percent in the wrong," he said.

Burke might have avoided jail time if he had shown up for his June 25 sentencing, Gil said. President Judge Richard J. Hodgson had to issue a bench warrant.

Burke, who turned himself in Wednesday, was ordered to pay a $1,500 fine plus court costs. After evaluation for alcohol abuse, he will have to follow any recommended treatment, in addition to completing a class in alcohol-related highway safety, Gil said.

Burke's previous DUI offense called for a harsher sentence in this latest incident, Gil said. For a first offense, the maximum jail time is 72 hours, he said.

State courts have ruled against drunken bicyclists before, said Gil, who had to do a bit of research for his case. Pennsylvania law spells it all out, he said.

One statute states: "Every person riding a pedalcycle upon a roadway . . . shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle."

Elsewhere, a "vehicle" is defined as "every device in, upon or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway."