system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: A person should not be able to be charged with a DUI or DWI unless you are actually driving.


When I was in college a roommate went out drinking one night, got in an arguement with someone in the bar, and decided to leave.  He realized that he had had too much to drink, so he called a ride.  It was mid August and super hot outside, so while he was waiting on his ride he sat in in his truck and ran the A/C.  A police officer saw him and took him in for a DWI and he was convicted.  It effected his employment and schooling for the next couple of years.

I never liked the guy much, but I always thought he got a raw deal. He was doing the right thing and got the same penalty as if he decided to drive home.  You should be able to sleep it off in your car without fear of consequence.

I have heard the argument that if the officer saw a drunk sitting in their car and just walked away from it, the person could start driving at any moment.  I argue that it would be just as easy to take the person home as it would be to take them to jail, and it doesnt ruin their life. The police could even take them to the jail to dry out for the night just to be sure, but there is no reason to suspend their license, fine, and imprison a person for simply sitting in their car with the keys in their possession, or even sitting in a running vehicle. 

To head off the first argument I see coming, this doesn't apply to a vehicle in a lane of traffic, obviously if you are passed out at a stop sign or something you deserve a DWI.

Update: After reading tons of comments my view has been changed marginally to believe that what he did should not be completely legal.  I believe that there should be some form of moderate traffic citation with a fine associated with it along with a ride home or a night in the drunk tank.  That way the police can prevent tragedies while not making the assumption that the person was definitely going to drive and ruining the person's life.

Dont expect any more replies from me, I have the day off with my family and I'm not spending any more time on my phone. Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves.
gpt
We have to draw the line of "operating a motor vehicle" at some point, and sitting in the seat with it powered up seems like a pretty dang good one to me.

The point of not allow machines to be operated while drunk is that you you 1. are less physically coordinated and prone to making mistakes and 2. have impaired judgment.

With that perspective isn't someone sitting there shitfaced with a powered up car and their hands by shifter and feet by pedals pretty dang risky?  

If you say "not really" then you're almost certainly going down the route of "wasn't really too drunk to drive" and "most people are capable of safe operation even when above the legal limit" and a bunch of other stuff we know is just generally not very true.