Originally Posted by
drrhythm2
In your example of a cop waking up someone sleeping behind the wheel to give them a DUI, I don't think that's even possible (assuming the COP isn't breaking the law). Sitting in a parked car isn't "operating" a motor vehicle. The crime is "driving" while intoxicated, not sitting in a stationary object. Even if this was the case, he/she could have made better arrangements that wouldn't have put him/her in that situation in the first place. How about just having good enough judgement not to get so drunk you would need to sit in your parked car to sleep?
It actually happened to the UND CFI that killed himself via nosing a Seminole in the ground in SD. If I remember right it was his second DUI and felt his career was over. Was winter, after a night of drinking he turned the car on for heat and hopped in the back to sleep it off. Cop rolled up and got hit with a DUI. The key was that even if he put the keys under the car, in the trunk, or sat in the back seat with car running, the understanding of it according to my cop friends is that a person still had "access" to the car to drive. Only "safe bet" is to toss the keys into the woods with your back turned and eyes closed. Still just call a cab.