DRUNK DRIVING PETOSKEY MICHIGAN

Driving under the influence, drunk driving, or drink-driving, is the act of operating a motor vehicle (and sometimes a bicycle or similar human-powered vehicle) after having consumed alcohol (ethanol) or other drugs, to the degree that mental and motor skills are impaired. In addition to driving under the influence of alcohol and driving under the influence of other drugs, a third "DUI" offense consists of driving under the combined influence of alcohol and other drugs. The drugs causing or contributing to the impairment need not be illegal, but can consist of lawfully prescribed or over-the-counter medication. Anti-drunk-driving advertising campaigns have aimed to raise awareness of the legal situation and the dangers of driving while intoxicated. Drunk-driving is responsible for a very large number of deaths, injuries, damage and accidents every year.

The specific criminal offence may be called, depending on the jurisdiction, driving while intoxicated (DWI), operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated (OMVI), driving under the influence [of alcohol or other drugs] (DUI), driving under the combined influence of alcohol and/or other drugs or drunk in charge [of a vehicle]. Such laws may also apply to boating, or piloting aircraft.

Presumptive guilt may be established by subjective tests of the driver's impairment, or measurement of his blood alcohol content (BAC). This is expressed in terms of milligrams of alcohol per millilitres of blood, or as a percentage. (10 mg/100 ml = 0.01 g/100 g = 0.01 %).

Drinking and driving is the act of driving a vehicle after consuming an alcoholic beverage or while consuming one. It is often confused with drunk driving and the other terms identified above. Driving after consuming alcohol is generally not illegal unless the driver’s ability to drive safely is impaired as defined by law.

Driving while consuming alcohol is often defined as illegal, irrespective of whether or not the driver is impaired. In some jurisdictions it is also illegal for an open container of an alcoholic beverage to be in the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle or in some specific area of that compartment.

All states have an illegal per se limit of 0.08%. Some states also include a lesser charge — often known as driving while impaired — at a BAC of around 0.05%. Also, in all states, drivers under the drinking age of 21 have committed a drunk driving offence if they have any alcohol in their blood (set at .00%, .01% or .02% to be meaningful). DUID is driving under the influence of drugs. A third possible charge is driving under the combined influence of alcohol and drugs; this requires no particular blood-alcohol level, but only impairment as the result of the combined effects of alcohol and drugs (which may be legal or illegal).

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Drunk driving".

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