In Brunson v. Tatum, the North Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled that a person who attempts to drive their vehicle, by merely blowing into an interlock device (even without turning the key or starting the car) may violate the terms of their conditional license or limited driving privilege.
In North Carolina, if you are charged and convicted of Driving While Impaired (Driving under the influence), and you have a high blow .16 on the intoxilyzer or have had multiple dwi's, usually in order to obtain your license or limited driving privilege (work license) you may have to have an "Interlock Device" installed on your vehicle. An interlock device requires that the operator blow into the machine before the ignition will be able to crank start the car. In the case cited above, a North Carolina driver who had a conditional license attempted to start his vehicle after taking some cold medicine, which contained some alcohol, registered some amount of alcohol on the device. Due to that, the driver was unable to start or drive the vehicle. However, because the Interlock Device keeps a record of attempts to blow into the machine, it was apparently reported to the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (NCDMV) and his license was revoked.
Generally, one is prohibited from operating a motor vehicle was subject to an impairing substance which, under case precedent, requires the key in the ignition and/or the engine running. For this person, neither of those points were reached but based upon the decision, anyone who is subject to a restriction with an interlock device would be well advised not to even "attempt" to drive or blow into the interlock device if they have consumed "anything" with alcohol in it (such as mouthwash or Listerine) to avoid the possibility of losing their driving privileges.
In another recent case, State v. Anderson, an intoxicated driver was sitting in he vehicle while it was being towed by another car. The intoxicated driver's engine was off. The defendant was found guilty because under the statute, a driver is one in actual physical control of a vehicle with the engine running or "in motion."
If you have been charged with Driving While Impaired (DWI) or any other traffic matter, the attorneys here at the Mast Law firm are here to help.
