Is there anywhere in the world where DUI/Driving under the influence on public roads is LEGAL? That is, is there any jurisdiction where, if a cop pulled you over and found you intoxicated, you could NOT be charged with DUI or any substantially similar offense, even if it is not called DUI or DWI. For the purposes of this question, the offense of Reckless Driving is not substantially similar to DUI unless driving while under the influence necessarily constitutes Reckless Driving (that is, Reckless Driving would be a Lesser Included Offense of DUI, had DUI been illegal)
This question is not necessarily limited to alcohol. I’d be interested in hearing of jurisdictions where DUI is legal for alcohol but not other drugs, jurisdictions where it is legal for everything but alcohol, etc.
This question has nothing to do with how to commit or get away with a criminal offense.
My question was about lack of legislation. Do you have a cite for Ethiopia? (Yeah, I know citing a negative is tough, but maybe an incident where a person was obviously DUI under American standards had to be let go because they couldn’t find anything in Ethiopian criminal law to charge them with, or a law review article.)
But all those countries could have an offence of “driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs”, or some such wording; the offence just might not be expressed in terms of a specific blood/alcohol level. It may be enough to secure a conviction to show that (a) you had been drinking, or appeared to have drink taken, and (b) your driving was erratic.
This might be a more practical approach to law enforcement in places where breathelyser kits are not easily distributed, or the integrity of samples taken is not easily guaranteed, or facilities for conducting and certifying blood tests are limited.
The US State Department doesn’t mention anything about driving while drunk in Ethiopia, but it does say that it’s illegal to operate a motor vehicle while using a cell phone or other electronic communications device, even if it has a hands-free feature. So obviously the country has at least some legal restrictions against impaired driving.
Bingo, I doubt there is anywhere aside from places like Somalia where there is no law against impaired driving or reckless driving. There might not be a set alcohol limit but you can still get arrested and the cop will simply testify in court against you.
That makes sense. Plus the countries listed above (Angola, Comoros, Congo and Ethiopia, Indonesia and Vietnam) have horrific road accidents. Call me a pussy but I’m not encouraged by any nation which might appear to shrug off drink driving.
Even in Somalia there are laws which, while they may not address driving specifically, effectively prohibit certain types of driving while intoxicated. Somalia practises Sharia law, so the consumption of alcohol (and by implication, the consumption of alcohol before or during driving) is prohibited. Admittedly, the ability for the judiciary to enforce any laws has been significantly impaired for the past twenty years. However, this is one area of jurisprudence where it seems the citizenry is perfectly happy to comply; consumption of alcohol simply isn’t a large part of Somali culture.
