Thread: You Can Get A DUI Without Driving Your Car

Originally Posted by FL Patriot

It seems like it could be a storyline out Steven Spielberg's 2002 movie, Minority Report: a Minnesota man was convicted of a DUI offense in a car that wasn't moving. What's even more surprising: the car wouldn't start at all.

As it turns out, getting a bit tipsy and stumbling out of the house to sleep it off in the car may make you a felon. It happened to Daryl Fleck.

That he'd consumed about twelve beers is not in dispute. His felony conviction for drunk driving, even though his car was not running and legally parked, has earned him 48 months in custody and five years of probation.

It started one night in 2007, when when a neighbor at Fleck's apartment complex alerted police, they found him sleeping in his car, with the driver's side door still open.

Appealed all the way to the Minnesota Supreme Court, Fleck's conviction was ultimately upheld, though not without testing the elasticity of interpretation. Fleck obviously shares a fondness for beer with many Americans, though his prior DUI offenses did not win friends on the jury.

In this instance, the keys to the car were in the center console, far from the ignition. The engine was cold, and Fleck hadn't even been listening to the radio. Officers determined Fleck's blood-alcohol level was .18, which may be more to blame for the conflicting reasons he gave to police when asked why he was at the car than any attempt at deceit.

Minnesota's legal blood-alcohol limit is .08, and Fleck's results were more than double that. Were he cruising sloppily past a sobriety checkpoint, the case would have been an unchallenged open-and-shut matter.

Instead, prior cases that convicted citizens of DUI on the grounds of an expanded interpretation of "physical control" were used as precedents.

For example, in a prior case, the meaning of "physical control" was stretched to include the possibility that a vehicle available to an intoxicated person could easily be pressed into service, irrespective of intent. Again, that would be a more straightforward precedent but for the fact that an officer's attempt to start Fleck's impounded car revealed that it wouldn't run.

Despite the apparent incongruity with reason, Fleck's conviction was upheld by the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Has a menace been removed from the roads -- and society, for that matter?

No doubt, someone with prior DUI convictions isn't doing the public a service. Fleck shouldn't have been near the car in his condition.

We only shudder to think of how far the notion of "physical control" extends before someone else decides the fate of the rest of our automotive experiences.

According to the precedent set, ANYONE who drinks and has a drivers license is guilty of DUI then. Every licensed driver who owns a vehicle anyway.

They called it DRIVING under the influence for a reason. Incredible.

Here is my favorite news story of a DUI arrest from last year.....

An Ohio man says he is seeking a jury trial on a charge of driving under the influence that was slapped on him after he crashed the vehicle he was piloting -- a barstool.
The barstool was welded to a small metal frame attached to a five-horsepower lawnmower engine.





"It was just an accident. I mean a little minor accident," Kile Wygle, 28, explained in an interview this week with CNN affiliate WSYX.
His homemade vehicle was made from a barstool welded to a small metal frame attached to a five-horsepower lawnmower engine, four wheels and a lawnmower steering wheel, according to the Newark, Ohio, police accident report.

Officers responding to a report of a crash with injuries March 4 said they found Wygle nursing his injuries and highly intoxicated. According to the police report, when asked how much he had had to drink, Wygle responded, "a lot."

He crashed during his attempt at a U-turn while speeding down the street in front of his home -- a daring move from atop the specialized barstool even for the most nimble and sober of men. Measuring 6-foot-1 and 230 pounds, and after having consumed what he later told an officer was 15 beers, Wygle appeared to be neither.

He was treated at a hospital for minor injuries.

The only reason for these laws is for the lawyers and the courts to make more money.



Man on bicycle arrested for DUI in Collier

Posted: Jan 25, 2010 2:28 PM EST Updated: Jan 25, 2010 2:42 PM EST
COLLIER COUNTY: A 55-year-old man who was riding a bicycle on Sunday faces DUI charges when he refused to take a sobriety test during a traffic stop.

Deputies pulled over Tommy Miller for riding his bike without lights on US-41 towards Collier Boulevard at 7:19 p.m.

According to deputies, during questioning Miller couldn't explain why he was going to Collier County.

The deputy noticed his eyes were bloodshot, and that he had two cans of beer in his bike basket, according to reports.

Miller reportedly was asked to take a sobriety test, but denied the request.

He was arrested and taken to Naples Jail Center.

At the jail he refused to take a breathalyzer and caused a disturbance in the holding cell, according to deputies.

He was charged with DUI 2nd offense and second DUI refusal.

Records show his previous charges were in 2003 related to an open container charge.

Reports say Miller also refused to sign the citation for not having lights on his bicycle, therefore he was given additional charges for refusal.

Originally Posted by Davy Crockett

The only reason for these laws is for the lawyers and the courts to make more money.



Man on bicycle arrested for DUI in Collier

Posted: Jan 25, 2010 2:28 PM EST Updated: Jan 25, 2010 2:42 PM EST
COLLIER COUNTY: A 55-year-old man who was riding a bicycle on Sunday faces DUI charges when he refused to take a sobriety test during a traffic stop.

Deputies pulled over Tommy Miller for riding his bike without lights on US-41 towards Collier Boulevard at 7:19 p.m.

According to deputies, during questioning Miller couldn't explain why he was going to Collier County.

The deputy noticed his eyes were bloodshot, and that he had two cans of beer in his bike basket, according to reports.

Miller reportedly was asked to take a sobriety test, but denied the request.

He was arrested and taken to Naples Jail Center.

At the jail he refused to take a breathalyzer and caused a disturbance in the holding cell, according to deputies.

He was charged with DUI 2nd offense and second DUI refusal.

Records show his previous charges were in 2003 related to an open container charge.

Reports say Miller also refused to sign the citation for not having lights on his bicycle, therefore he was given additional charges for refusal.

The State gets the money. The average 1st time offense DUI in Jersey will cost you between 8K-15K....that includes a MAJOR rise in your insurance premium for 3 years.

I know someone whose 1st offense cost her 17K including her insurance rate increase. Lost her license for 3 mos. I know someone else who it cost about 8K....her insurance company didn't catch her. HA!!....she dodged that bullet. Lost her license for 7 mos because she refused the breathalyzer.

It's insane that it costs that much. I wonder how REAL drunks pay it.

Having said all that...it's stupid to drive drunk. It's risky....but 20 years ago, I can remember driving down the shore with beers between our legs and nobody bothered you.

We have had this policy in Canada for years. It is known as "care and control of a motor vehicle while impaired".

In a way, it is absurd. If someone has a few beers,and decides that he should not be driving, he can no longer stop along the road to sleep it off,or even in the bar's parking lot for that matter. I think it is a bad policy.

I got a kick out of the self-propelled barstool.

But if they can charge the guy with the self-propelled barstool,will the electric wheelchair be next?

Like anti-smoking policies for bars, I do not believe that the ultimate goal is safety. I believe it is an assault on socializing. Divided people are weaker. This means that the government is stronger.

Australian Man Arrested for Drunk Driving While Riding A Bicycle

Published on November 3, 2009 in Queensland. 0 Comments

If you are wondering, yes you can be prosecuted for drunk driving in Australia while riding a bicycle:



(This is not the real photo)

A far north Queensland man has been charged with drink driving after registering more than six times the legal limit while riding his bicycle.
Police say the man was riding along the Bruce Highway at Tully on Saturday night when he fell into a ditch.
He recorded a blood alcohol content of 0.28 and is due to appear in the Tully Magistrates Court at the end of the month.

I would much rather have someone riding a bicycle then driving a car because he is only a danger to himself.

Australia is worse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its all about making $$$$$$$$$
Our police has never claimed to be a nonprofit organization. They have become more like tax collectors to feed there pensions and the overpaid big shots.

Implied consent. And yes, it's about revenue, not just for the legal system but also for the "rehab" centers as well.

Being intoxicated is never a good idea, especially on public property; let alone while seated behind the wheel of a motor vehicle, rather it's parked, or being operated. I don't care what social status the individual holds, if they're not in full control of their faculties while driving, or walking on public property, they should be arrested for their own safety as well as to protect others from their often alarming and dangerous behavior.

It is also unlawful to be in possession of a firearm while intoxicated. This makes perfectly good sense to me. And I carry a sidearm.

Too many individuals feel they're privileged characters who should be able to pick-and-choose the laws they decide to obey or ignore with impunity. And when they receive their reality-check, they indignantly claim their civil rights were violated even when they weren't from the time a LEO slapped the cuffs on them to the time they were released after serving their sentence.

The best way to avoid providing the State with this form of "revenue" is to stop giving them excuses to collect it.

Over twenty years ago, I was advised by a very wise (and hard drinking) man, that one should *never* crawl into the front seat of a vehicle to sleep it off. His advice was to make sure the keys were secured in your pocket and get into the *back* seat. I think he was speaking from experience...

This law does not affect me because I don't drink. I don't understand why anyone would want to. If I understand it correctly they don't want someone who has been drinking to be inside a vehicle in possession of keys .... at all. Laws like this were probably pushed by people such as this...

TAC Campaign - 20 year Anniversary retrospective montage "Everybody Hurts" music by REM TV ad - YouTube

While I am against big government. There are times when you have to help people who just don't think of others to act appropriately when other lives are on the line. Some people only worry about their own right to have their own good times. If you have a drinking problem please don't make it everyone else's problem.

This is just my opinion as one who has a cousin who is paralyzed for life when she was sitting in a parked vehicle of the side of the road sharing food with her young son... and a drunk driver veered off the road and hit her at around 70 miles per hour. I think the worst part of the experience for her was burying her 3 year old child who was killed in the accident. She only survived because in the split second she saw the vehicle coming at her she screamed and layed down on the front bench seat. Her son was strapped in the back his neck was broke and chest punctured.

The drunk driver was killed also (He had a previous record of DUI.) Good riddance. He was an Amerindian who killed one too many people. If you are going to drink please just don't even head in the direction of your vehicle. Next time... it could be me in that wheel chair or coffin.


Edit:

The penalty/fine my cousin paid for this uninsured, unlicensed man's D.U.I. was...

Her son's life
Her mobility and ability to life on her own
Her ability to ever have future children
Life flight by helicopter to the hospital
8 weeks of intensive care and surgery of hospital bills plus recovery
Lifetime rehabilitation and monitoring
The cost of out of the U.S. unsuccessful stem cell experiments trying to get her spinal chord to re grow.
Her hobby of swimming
Her relationship with her husband
The cost of her baby boy's funeral which she was unable to attend
cemetery lot
and headstone burying her child
Her house
Her driver's license
Her vehicle

If the perpetrator had lived...15,000 doesn't seem so bad.

In Wisconsin, someone can get a DUI while riding a child's Big Wheel down the sidewalk or if someone is seated in a car with keys in the ignition whether the car was ever started or not. A D.A. recently charged an actual drunk driver in a car, who is also an insurance executive, with operating an aircraft under the influence. The advantage is that he avoided a mandatory year of using an ignition interlock device, and he avoided a six-month revocation of his license. The charge also is listed as a non-traffic offense. This guy was twice over the legal Wisconsin limit.

While driving any vehichle after consuming alcohol is a bad idea, some of the laws are ridiculous. In Wisconsin, in an effort to bolster conviction rates, offenders are actually charged with two offenses. Driving while under the influence and operating while intoxicated. As others have pointed out, some of this is due to revenue. In the first two scenarios, this seems to be a show of power and little more. Both the police and D.A. have a great amount of discretion and apparently they take full advantage of it. If they want you 'in the system', they will find a way.

Originally Posted by revapocalypse

In Wisconsin, someone can get a DUI while riding a child's Big Wheel down the sidewalk...

That's crazy. That's all I can say.

In Oregon, a fellow got a DUI while riding a horse.

Originally Posted by Atigun

In Oregon, a fellow got a DUI while riding a horse.

Did he run it into something?

I am not a fan of big government. If our people would live moral lives, the left would not be able to push laws through like this because there would be no argument for them. The more wicked the nation, the more laws will be created. Until we can govern ourselves, how can we provide a convincing argument against larger government? We need to hold each other accountable, we are to great to fail.

Best Wishes- ConcernedMajority