Walk It Through: The Car In The Bar Lot
A driver's seat, a running engine, an open can, 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 heat. An officer knocks on the window.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One night and one driver. The administrative hearing on the license, a blood test with a warrant, and second and later convictions 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.
- Arrest without a warrantAn arrest a peace officer may make on reasonable cause to believe the person committed a felony, or a misdemeanor where the person would otherwise escape, may cause injury, may destroy evidence, or committed it in the officer's presence.
- Citation in lieu of arrestA citation issued in place of an arrest. For an offense classified as an infraction, a citation is issued rather than an arrest, apart from the exceptions the law lists.
- InfractionAn offense that is not a crime of any class. Where no other penalty is set, a first offense is a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.
- Reasonable cause to believeThe standard that triggers the duty to report child abuse or neglect, which reaches physicians, nurses, school employees and any other person.
- Actual physical controlBeing in control of a motor vehicle without necessarily driving it. The DUI section makes it unlawful to operate or be in the actual physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence or at the limit.
- Administrative license revocationThe revocation of a license by the department, separate from the criminal case, that refusing a chemical test or failing one starts.
- Class W misdemeanorThe class that drunk driving carries, with a mandatory minimum of seven days and a five hundred dollars fine on a first conviction and a maximum of sixty days.
- Ignition interlock permitThe permit a person applies for during the license revocation that follows a DUI conviction, to drive a vehicle fitted with an ignition interlock.
- Implied consentThe consent to a chemical test of blood, breath or urine that every person who operates or controls a motor vehicle in Nebraska is deemed to have given, which an officer with reasonable grounds may require after an arrest.
- Open alcoholic beverage containerAny bottle, can or other receptacle holding alcohol that is open, has a broken seal, or has had some of its contents removed.
- Passenger areaThe part of a vehicle where no one may possess an open alcoholic beverage container on a highway or in a public parking area. The area behind the last upright seat of a vehicle without a trunk is not part of it.