With the icy weather and cold temperatures invading Iowa, it’s time for another reminder of the whole “O” in the OWI offense.
For whatever reason, Iowa has decided to call the “DUI” offense “OWI.” The law refers to this as both “Operating While Intoxicated” and in the same statute, “Operating While under the Influence.” So whichever name you wish to use, it’s clear that the “O” means “Operating.”
Why not “driving?” Well, “operating” is more inclusive. The legislature wants to trap those people that weren’t actually driving the vehicle, but merely engaged in the operation of it.
Primarily this is going to include people sitting in their cars with the engines on and the heaters running.
This isn’t as big of a problem in the summer. In the summer you would be fine to “sleep it off” in your car, as long as the engine was never operating and the keys were not in the ignition.
But cars cannot operate the heater without the engine being engaged, so wintertime will often lead to a few more operating-but-not-driving related OWI’s.
The penalty is the same.
Lesson? Don’t sleep it off in your car in the winter.
Also, as a point of responsibility, often times when “sleeping it off” the amount of time it takes to achieve a non-intoxicated state will exceed the time somebody would sleep in their car throughout the morning. If someone drinks to the point of passing out (0.15 or greater) and they pass out at 2:00 a.m., they will not be safe to drive when the sun comes up. Many people will drink to a BAC of 0.20 or more, and that certainly will take more than a few hours in the car to return to a non-intoxicated < 0.08 level. The only time that “sleeping it off” can really work is if your BAC is very close to 0.08, and a few hours would push it to 0.05 or less. Nights of heavy drinking cannot be remedied by a few hours of sleep. And anybody that jumps in the car at 8:00 a.m. after drinking hard until 2:00 a.m. is very likely violating the Iowa OWI law.