What is a DUI?
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Driving under the influence (driving while intoxicated, drunk driving, operating under the influence, drinking and driving, drink-driving, impaired driving) is the act of operating any motorized machinery after or during the consumption of alcohol or other drugs. DUI or DWI are synonymous terms that represent the criminal offense of operating (or in some jurisdictions merely being in physical control of) a motor vehicle while being under the influence of alcohol or drugs or a combination of both.[1] It is a criminal offense in most countries.
ReplyDeleteIn the United States one can be prosecuted under per se laws whether or not they are actually "impaired" or "under the influence" of alcohol. In most countries, anyone who is convicted of injuring or killing someone while under the influence of alcohol or drugs can be heavily fined, as in France, in addition to being given a lengthy prison sentence. Many states in the U.S. have adopted truth in sentencing laws that enforce strict guidelines on sentencing, different from past practice where prison time was reduced or suspended after sentencing had been issued.
The specific criminal offense may be called, depending on the jurisdiction, driving under the influence [of alcohol or other drugs] (DUI), driving under intense influence (DUII), driving while intoxicated (DWI), operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated (OMVI), driving under the combined influence of alcohol and/or other drugs, driving under the influence per se or drunk in charge [of a vehicle]. Other less common acronyms include operating a vehicle (while) impaired (OVI), and Driving While Ability Impaired (DWAI).[2] Many such laws apply also to boating, piloting aircraft, riding a horse or conducting a horse-drawn vehicle, or cycling.
In the United States, local law enforcement agencies made 1,467,300 arrests nationwide for driving under the influence of alcohol in 1996, compared to 1.9 million such arrests during the peak year in 1983,[3] American Indians are Violent Crime Victims at Double the Rate of General Population, February 19, 1999, United States Bureau of Justice Statistics In 1997 an estimated 513,200 DWI offenders were in prison or jail, down from 593,000 in 1990 and up from 270,100 in 1986