Walk It Through: The Car In The Parking Lot
A driver's seat, a running engine, a test, and the questions at the station.
After a few drinks, a person sits in the driver's seat of a parked car in a bar's lot with the engine running for the heater. An officer taps on the window.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One night in one lot. A first offense at 0.20 or more, a second within ten years, drug impairment, and the administrative suspension's own hearing are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- ArrestTaking a person into custody as the law allows, by a peace officer or a private person.
- FelonyA crime punishable by death or by imprisonment in the state prison. Unless a section sets another punishment, it carries up to five years, a fine of up to $50,000, or both.
- MagistrateThe judicial officer before whom a person arrested without a warrant is taken without unnecessary delay, with a complaint stating the charge.
- Search warrantA written order in the state's name, signed by a magistrate, judge or justice, directing an officer to search for and seize property. It must be executed and returned within fourteen days of its date.
- Actual physical controlBeing in the driver's position of a motor vehicle with the motor running or the vehicle moving. The DUI section reaches it as well as driving.
- Alcohol concentrationThe measure of alcohol the DUI section is written in. Driving at 0.08 or more is unlawful, and for a driver under twenty-one, 0.02 or more.
- Ignition interlockA device on a car that tests the driver's breath, ordered after a DUI conviction and for a year after a refusal suspension.
- Implied consentThe rule that a person who drives in Idaho is deemed to have consented to evidentiary testing for alcohol or drugs at the request of an officer with reasonable grounds. Refusing brings a civil penalty of $250 and a suspension.
- InfractionA civil public offense, not a crime, punishable only by a penalty not exceeding $300, with no jail.
- MisdemeanorAny crime that is not a felony. Unless a section sets another punishment, it carries up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.
- Open containerA container of liquor, beer or wine that is not sealed, which no one in a vehicle on a public highway may drink from or possess, apart from the listed exceptions. It may ride in an enclosed trunk.