Do you have to be in the driver seat to be charged?

Question

My fiance was just charged with DUI he had 4 beers in like a 2hour period. He was driving our veh across the street to the convenience store and ran out of gas. He was out of the vehicle and was walking across the street when the police officer pulled up behind the vehicle. He was called over and then arrested for DUI. Do you think that constitutes a DUI?

Answer 1

If he was driving under the influence, then yes, it is a DUI.

If you are in the driver's seat with the keys in the ignition you can be charged for DUI.

Answer 2

That would constitute a probable cause DUI arrest if the officer didn't see him operating. Most likely, however, the officer was a witness to his operating the vehicle prior to the stop. It's really difficult to give an answer to this question without knowing the totality of the circumstances. Was the car in the middle of the street after running out of gas?

Answer 3

If the officer saw him behind the wheel at any point and formed the opionion that it was a DUI, it doesn't matter that he was arrested outstide of the vehicle. Otherwise people would just bail out of their vehicles and run and think they couldn't be charged.

EDIT: I just read your other questions WOW his 4th DUI????
He deserves to go away for quite some time.

Answer 4

i think they could if the officer believed ur fiance to be the driver of the vehicle and that he was impaired at the time that he was driving. here i found this:
-operating a motor vehicle while having a blood alcohol concentration of greater than 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, contrary to section 253(b) of the Criminal Code. See Criminal Code Sections 253 to 259 Both offences can be committed by a person who is actually operating or driving a motor vehicle, vessel, aircraft, or railway equipment or ***by a person who has care or control of such a vehicle. Care or control includes actual care or control and ***Presumed*** care or control section 258(1)(a) where the person occupies the driver's seat.

Answer 5

So he drank and then he drove...heck yes that constitutes a DUI! step out of your bubble and think about it for half a second. from your previous question it sounds like you're in denial about his problems -- "i had already stopped" is not a viable defense to DUI, and it doesn't help your argument that this is a FOURTH DUI CHARGE .

I hope the criminal penalties deter your fiance from ever doing this again, and i hope you both get counseling.

Answer 6

yes the only thing the officer has to do is either witness him driving or have a witness willing to sign a statement saying they saw him then yes he can be arrested. My question is if it was across the street why didnt he walk instead of risking a DUI which will be costly?

Answer 7

It was a good pinch if you would have been in my state. The DUI law specifically says " Operated/Operating, or is Attempting to Operate a motor vehile under the influence. Quite obviously your fiance had operated on a public highway while DUI and SAAAA-LAAAAM! He got nailed and I say Too Bad for him! "POLICE-1, Drunken idiot who dose'nt know any better-0"

Answer 8

Its a good DUI here in Illinois. All you need is physical control... So even standing by his car with keys is a bust.

Glad he got busted before he killed someone but by the sounds of it he wont stop doing it till he kills himself.

Is it really his 4th DUI? How sad...

Answer 9

as long as it looked like he had been driving or had keys in hand then yes, plus just cause he was walking doesn't mean the cops didn't see him stop the car and get out. Not trying to jump all over you but it is illegal and he was wrong. Don't you know that most accidents occur less than 10 mins from home

Answer 10

You live across the street from a convieniance store. The legal limit is .08. Why didn't he walk. Oh.Oh.Oh I know, because alcoholics think that 4 beers isn't enough to impair them. Until after they kill someone.