You go to a friend’s house to watch a Mizzou football game. Everyone has a few beers during the course of the game. When the contest concludes, people begin to leave and drive home.
You walk out to your car, sit in the driver’s seat, and realize that you should not be driving. You can tell that you are still impaired because of how much you drank.
But it’s late at night, it’s starting to get cold, and you don’t want to go bother your friend. You decide that you are just going to sleep for a few hours on the side of the road, where your car is parked. When you wake up, your BAC will be lower and you can then drive safely. Since it’s getting cold, you turn on the car so that you can run the heater, and then you fall asleep.
You could still get a DUI
There’s a chance that you may wake up to an officer knocking on your window. That officer may then ask you to perform field sobriety tests or take a breath test, and you could be arrested on DUI charges.
This surprises many people. In this hypothetical example, the car is in park. How could you possibly be charged with driving under the influence if you weren’t driving?
The issue is that having the engine on counts as operating your vehicle in Missouri. You may claim that you turned it on for the heater, but the police have all they need to make a DUI arrest. The car doesn’t actually have to move for them to do so. In fact, even if the car is not running but you have access to your keys, or fob to start the car, this too counts.
If you do find yourself facing unexpected legal charges, make sure you know about all of the defense options you have at your disposal.