Can I be stopped and arrested for DUI or DWI in Florida even if the vehicle was not moving?
Whitney S. Boan Protecting Your Right
Video Transcript
In Florida the state has two ways in which they could prove that someone was driving under the influence of alcohol pursuant to our state statute, that involve where you are in your vehicle or if you were driving. First of all the officer does not necessarily have to actually witness you driving him or himself. In other words, there could be a witness to a crash who might be able to say that you were driving even if the officer never saw you driving. In other words, there also maybe the opportunity for you to incriminate yourself if you speak to the police in a manner in which you admit that you were driving and they didn’t see you driving.
The other way that this can happen though is that even if you’re not driving the car and the officer doesn’t see you driving the car if the officer finds you and believes that you were impaired by alcohol to the extent your normal faculties are impaired and they see you sitting in the vehicle even with the ignition not running you could potentially be exposed to a DUI based on being what’s called an actual physical control of the vehicle. This is a very factual determination. You should speak with a lawyer immediately to see whether or not you would qualify under the law as being guilty of a DUI based on being in a vehicle even when you weren’t driving it.