# Drunk Driving: When a drunk person sits in the driver's seat? Or, key in the ignition? Or, car turned on? Or, car put in gear to move? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 21, 2022, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183 "2022-01-21T17:57:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183/41 "2022-01-21T20:25:58Z")
Steve Lehto covered this last week (15 min). [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/UVvARS9pELc/maxresdefault.jpg "Drunk Driving While Parked!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVvARS9pELc) ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183/42 "2022-01-21T20:26:51Z")
“Driving” is the first word in Driving Under the Influence. To me if you aren’t driving how can it be a DUI? It’s just a UI. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183/43 "2022-01-21T20:29:29Z")
Planning is what should happen before getting drunk, IMO. Figure out who the designated driver is before the drinking starts, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183/44 "2022-01-21T20:30:27Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > “Driving” is the first word in Driving Under the Influence. To me if you aren’t driving how can it be a DUI? It’s just a UI Unfortunately, neither the police nor the judge consult us civvies. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183/45 "2022-01-21T20:41:08Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > “Driving” is the first word in Driving Under the Influence. To me if you aren’t driving how can it be a DUI? It’s just a UI. You expect his from a country that passes Patriot and Freedom acts that are not patriotic and that take away our freedoms? Wake up America! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183/46 "2022-01-21T20:47:20Z")
I’m sorry, but most trips to the local watering hole just aren’t planned out that well. Calling Uber can be forgotten (as can the fact that Uber even exists), designated drivers are hard to come up with when it is spontaneously decided to hit the Outside Inn after work and, unless the friend with the couch is among those with you that night _and_ she/he/they are still with you at the end of the night, you are just shit(faced) out of luck. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183/47 "2022-01-21T20:49:52Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > “Driving” is the first word in Driving Under the Influence Many states define it as “Operating”, not driving. And they define Operating as controlling the functions of a machine. Being in the vehicle with keys to operate it generally falls within that definition too, as defined by individual state law. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183/48 "2022-01-21T20:51:18Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I’m sorry, but most trips to the local watering hole just aren’t planned out that well So it’s inconvenient for many to avoid being guilty of the charge of ‘operating while intoxicated’ as it’s defined. What should we as a society do about that? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183/49 "2022-01-21T20:53:44Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I’m sorry, but most trips to the local watering hole just aren’t planned out that well. Calling Uber can be forgotten (as can the fact that Uber even exists), designated drivers are hard to come up with when it is spontaneously decided to hit the Outside Inn after work and, unless the friend with the couch is among those with you that night _and_ she/he/they are still with you at the end of the night, you are just shit(faced) out of luck. Well, that’s what being a responsible adult is all about: being responsible. If drinking is a person’s main priority, to the exclusion of their own and/or other’s well-being, it is possible that there will be unpleasant consequences. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183/50 "2022-01-21T21:00:17Z")
How is one sleeping in a car while intoxicated a danger to anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183/51 "2022-01-21T21:02:21Z")
as noted above, drunks often wake up and decide to drive while still legally intoxicated, and some of them have accidents and some kill people. I have patients who did this ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183/52 "2022-01-21T21:04:31Z")
Okay, but they haven’t yet. If I’m in a bar, drunk, and I have my car keys, should I be arrested because I _could_ decide to go drive drunk? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183/53 "2022-01-21T21:05:42Z")
Yeah, I’m not a fan of living in a “Minority Report” society. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183/54 "2022-01-21T21:10:15Z")
Then lobby to change it. But that’s how current laws are written. And they got written that way because on a number of occasions, some drunk was seen sleeping in a car by a cop, allowed to continue to do so, then woke up and drove drunk and killed folks, and there was great hue and cry. The emphasis in legalspeak is, I believe, “the clear and present danger represented by the situation”. I am not arguing for this, I’m just stating how it works. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183/55 "2022-01-21T21:13:18Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Maybe the law should make an explicit exemption for someone who is not in the driver’s seat. When I was in Iceland the drunk driving level BAC was 0.01% – note: That’s _not_ 0.1 – and the Icelandic police were very strict about it. If you were sitting in the car with the keys in your hand, that was sufficient. There was even one case where a chief and his wife went out. He drank a couple beers – enough to put him over the limit – so she did not.\* He sat in the passenger seat of a VW Beetle, she put the key in the ignition then discovered she’d left her glasses in the club. He got popped waiting for her to come back out. \*Knowing how strict they were we had designated drivers long before anyone’d heard of them in the US. Being navy the term was duty-sober. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183/56 "2022-01-21T21:13:19Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Then lobby to change it. But that’s how current laws are written. > > And they got written that way because on a number of occasions, some drunk was seen sleeping in a car by a cop, allowed to continue to do so, then woke up and drove drunk and killed folks, and there was great hue and cry. The emphasis in legalspeak is, I believe, “the clear and present danger represented by the situation”. The other problem is when someone pulls over after “obviously” driving, but the cop didn’t see the driving. A drunk in a car with the keys is “in physical control” and that’s enough in my state. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183/57 "2022-01-21T21:16:11Z")
As often happens, Québec has pretty strict rules (or _few_ rules, depending on your point of view) concerning this. Basically, you can get arrested if you’re in or near the car, with control of the car, while intoxicated, including : - Sleeping in the car, on the back seat, with the keys in your pocket, with the keys in the cupholder, or possibly even with the keys in the trunk. - Walking towards your car with your keys in your hand. - Waiting in your car, with the engine off, for the cab or driving service that you have called to drive you home. The reasoning is that there’s no way to determine what you will do in 10 minutes once the police have left the scene. [Reference](https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2017/01/05/vrai-ou-faux-peut-on-dormir-ivre-dans-lauto) (in French). ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183/58 "2022-01-21T21:31:04Z")
Teslas have “camp mode” where the car can run the AC or heater while you sleep in the back. They should also add a “drunk mode” where the car locks out driving for a period of time, but allows the AC, heater, and screen to all work. I’m sure you’d still end up in front of a judge, but it would seem to satisfy the law. You are not able to drive the vehicle, so would not be in control of it. You’re just in a climate controlled shed with an entertainment system, until 10am when it turns back into a car. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183/59 "2022-01-21T21:32:14Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > And they got written that way because on a number of occasions, some drunk was seen sleeping in a car by a cop, allowed to continue to do so, then woke up and drove drunk and killed folks, and there was great hue and cry. The emphasis in legalspeak is, I believe, “the clear and present danger represented by the situation”. I think the problem is, the person who tries to be at least somewhat responsible by sleeping it off in the car is penalized as harshly as the person who decides to drive home drunk. Yes, it was irresponsible to get in that position in the first place but better to sleep in the car than drive home. Yet we punish that last choice (sleep in the car) even if it was the right one given the circumstances. I’d be curious to see if there was ever a study of this. The number of people who woke-up, still drunk and then drove and caused an accident versus those who avoided an accident because they slept it off. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183/60 "2022-01-21T21:36:23Z")
Why not include the people who did drive home totally wasted and didn’t kill anyone? Surely the must greatly out number the ones who killed people. So why bother having any laws? Silly yes. But we expect people to understand the laws that exist and be responsible enough to follow them. If someone is so drunk they can’t plan ahead then maybe that person has a problem and needs to address it, not come up with excuses. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drunk-driving-when-a-drunk-person-sits-in-the-drivers-seat-or-key-in-the-ignition-or-car-turned-on-or-car-put-in-gear-to-move/958183.md?page=4)