Summary of Michigan Impaired Driving Statutes
PENALTIES FOR DRINKING-DRIVING OFFENSES:
(1) For first OWI or per se conviction: Jail term of up to 93 days; up to 360 hours of community service; $100 to $500 fine; 6-month license suspension.
(2) For second OWI or per se conviction within 7 years: Not less than 5 days to one-year jail term; 30 to 90 days of community service; $200 to $1,000 fine; license revocation.
(3) For third or subsequent OWI or per se conviction within one’s lifetime: (A felony) One-to-five year prison term; $500 to $5,000 fine; license revocation.
(4) For first conviction of impaired offense: Jail term of up to 93 days; up to 360 hours of community service; up to $300 fine; 90-day license suspension.
(5) For second conviction of impaired offense within 7 years: Same as in (2) above.
(6) For third or subsequent conviction of impaired offense within one’s lifetime: Same as in (3) above.
COMMON ACRONYMS USED TO DESCRIBE DRUNK DRIVING:
UBAL, Unauthorized Blood Alcohol Level, OUIL, Operating Under the Influence of Intoxicating Liquor, OWI, Operating While Intoxicated, Drunk Driving.
PROHIBITED VEHICULAR ACTIVITY:
"operate." Includes if the person is found in the driver's seat of a vehicle parked or stopped on a highway or street within this state if any part of the vehicle intrudes into the roadway and the peace officer has reasonable cause to believe the person was operating the vehicle in violation of section 625. Circumstantial evidence can be used to prove prior operation.
COVERED VEHICLES OR DEVICES:
"a vehicle" – broadly defined and includes most mopeds, but does not include bicycles. The term “vehicle” excludes those moved by “human power,” and where “motor vehicle” does not always include those propelled electrically.
COVERED LOCATIONS FOR DRINKING-DRIVING OFFENSES:
"upon a highway or other place open to the general public, including an area designated for the parking of vehicles, within the state."
DRINKING-DRIVING OFFENSES:
Operating, etc., while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or a controlled substance, or a combination of both. (OUIL offense)
Operating, etc., with BAC of .08 percent or more. (UBAL per se offense)
Authorizing or permitting a vehicle to be operated by a person who is under the influence of intoxicating liquor or a controlled substance or a combination of intoxicating liquor and a controlled substance.
Operating, etc., when ability to operate is visibly impaired by the consumption of intoxicating liquor, a controlled substance, or a combination of intoxicating liquor and a controlled substance. (Impaired offense - OWVI)
DEGREE OF IMPAIRMENT REQUIRED FOR CONVICTION:
For OWI intoxicating liquor: Ability to drive was substantially and materially affected by the consumption of intoxicating liquor.
For intoxicating liquor impaired offense: Ability to drive was so reduced that the defendant drove with less ability than an ordinary careful and prudent driver and such reduction in ability was visible to an ordinary observant person.
STATUTORY DRINKING-DRIVING PRESUMPTIONS:
Repealed in 2003.
IMPLIED CONSENT LAWS:
Tests permitted: Blood, breath or urine test. Preliminary breath test.
Type of advisement required: Of penalties for refusing testing and right to independent test.
Penalties for refusal: For first implied consent refusal - 1 year license suspension. A second implied consent refusal in 7 years will result in a 2 year license suspension. Refusal of preliminary breath test is civil infraction.
Admissibility of refusal: Admissible in criminal case with statutory instruction.
Administrative rules & regulations: Adopted by Department of State Police.
Disclosure of test information: Must be provided by prosecutor upon written request.
BLOOD-DRAWING STATUTE:
Only a licensed physician, or a licensed nurse or medical technician under the direction of a licensed physician and qualified to withdraw blood acting in a medical environment may withdraw blood for purposes of police testing.
INDEPENDENT TEST STATUTE:
A person who submits to police testing shall be given a reasonable opportunity to have a person of his or her own choosing administer a chemical test within a reasonable time after detention. The person being tested must be advised of this right and that the result of the independent test will be admissible in court. However, failure of the police to help you obtain an independent test does not lead to automatic dismissal or reduction of the charges against you or even suppression of the state’s testing evidence. Instead, if the judge determines that your implied consent rights were violated then at trial the judge will instruct your jury that they must determine whether, in light of the non-chemical test evidence, such an independent chemical test might have produced results different from the police-administered chemical test.
PLEA BARGAINING STATUTE: None exists.
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