What is a DUI?

Question

What is a DUI?

Accepted Answer

What a DUI is in Arizona

Under Arizona law, a DUI is the offense of driving or being in actual physical control of a vehicle while under the influence, and it is unlawful to do so under any of the following circumstances :

1. While under the influence of intoxicating liquor, any drug, a vapor releasing substance containing a toxic substance, or any combination of these, if the person is impaired to the slightest degree .
2. Having an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more within two hours of driving or being in actual physical control of the vehicle, from alcohol consumed before or while driving .
3. Having any drug defined in section 13-3401 or its metabolite in the person's body .
4. Driving a commercial motor vehicle requiring a commercial driver license with an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or more .
5. Operating a vehicle for hire or providing transportation network services as a transportation network company driver with an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or more .

A person convicted of this offense is guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor . It is not a defense to an impairment-based charge that the person was legally entitled to use the drug, although a person using a drug as prescribed by a licensed medical practitioner is not guilty of the drug-metabolite provision .

Variants of the offense

Arizona law also defines an "extreme" DUI: driving or being in actual physical control of a vehicle with an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more but less than 0.20, or 0.20 or more, within two hours of driving, which is also a class 1 misdemeanor . A separate "aggravated" DUI applies when a person commits a DUI or extreme DUI under specified circumstances — such as while the person's license is suspended, canceled, revoked or restricted; as a third or subsequent violation within eighty-four months; with a person under fifteen years of age in the vehicle; while required to use an ignition interlock device; or while driving the wrong way on a highway . Aggravated DUI is a class 4 felony in most of those circumstances, and a class 6 felony when it involves a person under fifteen in the vehicle .

A note on the term "DWI"

The word "DWI" does not appear in Arizona's DUI statutes (28-1381, 28-1382, 28-1383); the offense Arizona's statute names is driving or being in actual physical control of a vehicle while under the influence, so a question about a "DWI" in Arizona is answered by the DUI offense described above .