Is It Possible To Get a DUI While Sleeping In The Vehicle?

No doubt, being charged with DUI will have a very negative impact on your day to day living. After all, you risk losing your driving privileges, you will have to pay expensive fines, you will need to attend alcohol awareness classes, perform community service, buy a new insurance and may even be sentenced to county jail.

With that said, in certain cases, people are committing a DUI crime without really knowing it. For instance, in case you were in a bar or a restaurant and you had a little too much to drink, chances are, you will want to sleep it off inside your vehicle. Well, one moment you were falling asleep on the driver’s seat and the next a law enforcement officer, who happened to be patrolling the area, it knocking on your car window. Police officers usually spot people, who are sleeping in a car on the side of the road or on an empty parking lot.

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Still, is this a crime to be sleeping it off inside the car? Well, it depends on two major factors. First of all, whether or not your keys were in the ignition. At times, we put the keys in because it is our first instinct. Well, if the keys are in the ignition, it implies that the driver is able to put the vehicle into motion and is physically in control of his or her car. Hence, in such cases, it is best to leave the keys in your pocket, your purse or put in the console compartment. Anywhere but the ignition is going to do just fine.

The second factor, which could lead to a DUI arrest, would be the position of the driver. In case you fell asleep on the front seat, there is a much bigger chance that you were capable of putting your vehicle into motion. Of course, even if you were sleeping on the back seat, the law enforcement officer may use it against you, but it will not make as strong of an argument.

Therefore, in case you had a little too much to drink and you are not planning on driving and would like to sleep it off on the car, keep your keys away from the ignition and do not fall asleep on the front seat of the car – these are the two major factors, which got a lot of people charged with DUI, so they had to be dealing with all the harsh legal penalties. Still, if you were charged with DUI since you were sleeping it off in the car, do not hesitate to find a good attorney as soon as possible.