SYDNEY -- An Australian man has been charged with driving his motorized wheelchair down a highway while drunk, police said Monday.

Motorists were forced to drive around the 64-year-old man after he fell asleep in an exit lane on the Captain Cook Highway in northern Queensland state at 10am on Friday.

When a passing police patrol woke him up he told them he had intended to drive 14 kilometers (nearly nine miles) to visit a friend.

He was given a breathalyzer test and found to be more than six times over the legal limit for driving, police say.

"The vehicles that we normally hear about with drink-driving are the family car, the truck, the motorbike," Inspector Bob Waters told reporters.

"But there are also other classes of vehicles that are subject to drink-driving laws."

"People should be aware that drink-driving laws cover these kinds of vehicles, but also others like horses and bicycles."

The man was ordered to appear in court on July 7.