Can You Get A DUI Without Driving? Extended Version, House Remix

DfgDfg Admin
edited July 2011 in Man Cave
Title is some what misleading.
Can you get a DUI without driving? Though it seems an oxymoron, the answer is yes. You'd be surprised how many drivers don't realize it could happen.

Consider the Florida man whose roommate objected to his choice of late-night music, so he took his tunes outside to listen to in his car. That turned out to be a big mistake. He was arrested on suspicion of DUI after deputies knocked at his window and decided to conduct a field sobriety test, which he failed.

Or the case of a North Carolina woman who was arrested at a fast-food joint after she was found asleep behind the wheel with the engine running. Or the New Jersey camper who was found passed out in the back of his pickup at a campsite and charged with DUI. Or farther afield, the Alaska man who was stuck in a snowdrift and found to have a blood-alcohol ratio more than four times the legal limit, or the Canadian man who was seen pushing his vehicle by deputies and subsequently failed a field sobriety test.

Tales abound across America of drivers who were found asleep in their vehicles, usually incapacitated, and were stunned to find a sheriff's deputy or patrol officer knocking at their door. Usually when confronted with a dazed driver who may quickly become belligerent, a field sobriety test is pretty much automatic. And then, often, it's into handcuffs and a trip to the calaboose. Some drivers, even then, don't realize why they've been busted.

"Actual Physical Control"

Florida lawyer David Haenel has defended many "DUI without driving" cases, including the man with the loud music and the complaining roommate, and says it's a common occurrence. A former state DUI prosecutor of the year who switched sides and now runs the site fightyourdui.com, Haenel says that drivers usually are convicted by the legal precept of "actual physical control" of any vehicle.

In the Florida case, the man had his keys in the ignition to allow his music to play. Some drivers found impaired in their vehicles have turned on their car for heat or AC, Haenel explains. Usually, such drivers are found asleep, but as their keys are in the ignition or on their person, they are found to have "actual physical control" in the eyes of the law.

"A person may be sitting in a vehicle and the keys may be in the ignition. They may have no intention of driving the vehicle, but the car is on," he says. Haenel says such laws are "uniform" across the nation.

Actual physical control, by definition, means the defendant must physically be in or on the vehicle and have the capability to operate the vehicle, regardless of if he or she operated the vehicle at the time.

Haenel says often drivers have no intention of driving, that they've either left a party or drinking establishment, realized that they are impaired and decided to sleep in their cars. Usually they're startled by an officer, who often will realize the driver is impaired and administer a field sobriety test.

If the driver refuses a breath or blood test, the same rules apply as for a regular DUI test. Often, a driver will lose their license for a period and be expected to attend DUI classes. A heavy fine is almost always levied, and a driver will face a hike in their auto insurance.

Haenel says if a driver has been proven to have actual physical control of a vehicle, he will often try to get surveillance video from the surrounding area in a bid to prove that a driver had no intention of driving, that they had been parked in the vehicle for several hours, which could show the driver had no intent to drive.

A simple way to avoid such charges, of course, is to not drink to begin with, or arrange alternate transportation or a designated driver. But Haenel says the best way to avoid an instance of DUI without driving is to "get rid of the car keys."

"They should put them underneath or on the passenger side tire, if they have a release for their trunk, that would be ideal. But most people don't think of that until they're in handcuffs."


Read

Next time, avoid the keys.

Comments

  • bornkillerbornkiller Administrator In your girlfriends snatch
    edited May 2011
    Laws apply here as well. If the keys are in the ignition and you're behind the wheel, you can get charged.
    Here's another stupid law that relates to that.
    Some dude lost his license for driving intoxicated. He needed to get to work so he bought an electric scooter to get there. He was pulled over and charged for driving a vehicle while disqualified and not registered for our roads.
    Here's the stupidity in this law. If he were under the age of 14yo he could operate the scooter as a toy. (no road user and no driving while disqualified charge) since he was something like 18yo he needed a license to operate it and it needed to be registered. :facepalm:
  • DfgDfg Admin
    edited May 2011
    I don't have a Iicense and still drive like a king in PK :). Srsly I don't.
  • bornkillerbornkiller Administrator In your girlfriends snatch
    edited May 2011
    Haha! I've seen the traffic situation in PK brah. ^ That explains it. :D
  • MeloncholyMeloncholy Regular
    edited July 2011
    I'm not sure if this is universal, but in the UK it doesn't matter what the "vehicle" is. There was a story in the paper relatively recently about a man who got his driving licence suspended for riding a horse while drunk on the public highway. You can also be suspended from driving for riding a bike (as in bicycle, not a motorcycle) on the road while over the limit.
  • Darth BeaverDarth Beaver Meine Ehre heißt Treue
    edited July 2011
    LOL They taught us that in DUI drunk school back in 79. I remember thinking at the time. "Is this 3 day school to convince me not to drink and drive or to teach me how to do it better"?
  • LordWormLordWorm Regular
    edited July 2011
    Sometime around 2008, a few friends and I were hanging out at a vacant lot near the local baseball field, and one of them had his car running to power the stereo, which was blasting metal at about 130dB. We had been there for 20 minutes or so when some asshole faggot decided to call the police over an apparent noise disturbance. My friend had a beer in his hand when the cops rolled up, and even though he was nowhere near the vehicle at the time, they charged him with intent to drink and drive because the engine was running.

    So yes, it is certainly possible to get fined without ever getting behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated.
  • STRAIGHTUPGANGSSTRAIGHTUPGANGS New Arrival
    edited July 2011
    Some shit like this happened to me the other night. About 3 weeks ago I had drunk a bunch of beer and tequila with my friend and his mom. So like usual we decided to talke the ATVs out and go ride. This happens all the time but we generally stay off of the roads because my friend has been in a lot of police chases on his old fourwheeler. Its easy as fuck to get away, all you have to do is take a trail, obviously cops cant fit their cars through a fourwheeler trail. But yea I decided to be Billy Badass and take the road back to his house insted of the trail. I got pulled over at like 3:30 in the morning drunk as shit. Luckily the cop didnt smell my breath and getting pulled over sobered me up real quick. He asked if my fourwheeler was stolen and since I'm 17 he made me call my mom and confirm with her that the ATV was mine. So I got off with absolutely nothing, I'm sure it could have easliy been a DUI. Im VERY VERY lucky.
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