I have a friend that got a DUI. She was asleep in her car, in the parking lot of a bar. No keys in the ignition. She had recognized that she was probably over the limit so instead of getting in a car with drunk friends, or driving home (possibly) drunk, she decided to lock herself into her car and go to sleep until had slept it off.
Doing the smart thing, right ??
Nope, after the bar closed, the cops come by, see her car, see her, wake her up, charged with DUI. And convicted because says so. Even though no keys in ignition and driver sleeping.
Yep, Thanks MADD !!!
Sounds like one of the "physical control" cases we've got here in Ohio. She had control of the keys, so she had control of the car. I remember talking with a lobbyist who pushed for this legislation. He explained it like this...
"Yeah, so drunk guy crawls into his car and goes to sleep it off...until he gets cold at 4:00 a.m. and decides to drive home, and he's still drunk. That's what we're trying to stop."
So, I respond, if I get drunk at a hotel and go to bed, and my keys are in the room, what about now? Aren't you afraid I might wake up and drive home at 4:00 a.m. then? His response, I'll remember forever... He winked at me and said "If that's what MADD pays me to say, then yes, I'm afraid of you driving, and I"ll push for that change in the law."
