An Alternative to Seattle DUI - Physical Control DUI

The Little Brother of a Seattle DUI

The title of this blog "Physical Control DUI" is a bit misleading, as technically you aren't "driving" under the influence of alcohol if you are charged with this crime. But it is essentially the same thing, and it is the easiest way to describe the crime, so I threw caution to the wind. The reason for the title is to let you know that I'm going to explain a little about the little brother of Seattle Washington DUI law - physical control of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The physical control of a vehicle while drunk or on drugs is the little brother of a Seattle DUI charge because it has all of the elements of DUI except the driving part. But unlike a regular old DUI, there are some loopholes.

First, the statute states specifically "no person may be convicted under this section if, prior to being pursued by a law enforcement officer he has moved the vehicle safely off the roadway." What does this mean? Well, it means if you ask someone to move your car to the side of the road or sleep in your car after a long night at the bar (and you drove your car to the Seattle hotspot sober and the car stayed where it was when you went to sleep) you can't be charged with physical control of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

An example would probably best showcase what I'm talking about. Let's say you decide to go out in downtown Seattle, and you know you are going to get drunk. You arrive at the bar, sober, and remember where you parked your car so you can make it back at the end of the night. At the end of the night you fall into your car and pass out drunk. In this case, your Seattle drunk driving attorney should be able to successfully argue that you were exempt from the statute because of your actions.

This doesn't mean, however, that you won't have to explain how you got into the car drunk, particularly if you are parked alongside the road. For example, let's say you are driving home when you decide you are too drunk to drive. You pull over safely and fall asleep. A police officer happens along, checks you out, sees that you've been drinking, and cites you for Seattle DUI, even though he didn't actually see you drinking. This case is a little harder for your Seattle DUI lawyer because the cop is allowed to infer you were driving to reach the location he found you. If you find yourself in this situation, make sure you hire a good Seattle DUI lawyer - you're going to need it.

Second, and finally, you can't be convicted of a physical control DUI if you can show that the car was inoperable. But, if it could easily be made operable (i.e. filled with gas, or the car was wrecked) then this criminal defense doesn't apply. You must be able to actually start the car, or have the keys, to be convicted of these charges. In other words, to beat a physical control DUI, you've got to be able to show you couldn't operate the car even if you wanted to.