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Breaking down the meaning of driving under the influence

By Charles Goldman

Jan 26, 2017; La Jolla, CA, USA; Tiger Woods walks up to his ball on the 2nd hole during the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament at Torrey Pines Municipal Golf Course. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 26, 2017; La Jolla, CA, USA; Tiger Woods walks up to his ball on the 2nd hole during the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament at Torrey Pines Municipal Golf Course. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports /
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Driving under the influence is a legal charge that indicates different things than simple term “drunk driving.”

In light of former golf star Tiger Woods’ recent arrest for driving under the Influence, it’s an opportune time to remind readers of what these charges indicate.

The charge is given to those who are suspected of driving under the influence of a legal or illegal drug or alcohol. The keyword here is suspected, as you can be charged with a DUI before any tangible proof or evidence of wrongdoing is presented.

A person is considered under the influence if:

"“his or her ability to drive safely was affected to an appreciable degree by having drunk an alcoholic beverage, taken a drug, or combined alcohol and drugs.”"

Tiger recently issued a statement following his arrest that blamed a new combination of prescription pills as the culprit for his DUI arrest. Some will find this surprising because they mistakenly believe that a driving under the influence only relates to drunk driving. In fact, DUI can indicate a lot of different things.

A person can receive a driving under the influence charge for drinking and driving. Even if a field breathalyzer test is administered and you test under the legal limit. You can still considered be too impaired to operate a vehicle in these scenarios. It doesn’t matter what or how much you’ve consumed. If you are over the blood alcohol content limit you are typically within the realm of DWI or felony DUI.

In Tiger Woods’ home state of Florida this is law. Enforcement does vary from state to state. In other states the law may be more specific and simply prohibit driving under the influence of a drug in combination with alcohol. It just depends on where you are.

Alternatively, you can be arrested for DUI if you fail any field sobriety test that an officer has you perform. Even if you don’t fail a field breathalyzer test and fail another test, police have the right to arrest you on DUI charges.

However proving impairment in a court of law without tangible evidence is difficult, making a conviction extremely difficult. Breathalyzer and other field sobriety tests are enough to make the initial arrest, but in some places, those tests are inadmissible in court. So without other evidence filed to the court (i.e. pill bottles, empty beer cans, witness testimony, expert testimony) you don’t have enough to do more than charge a person with the crime.

Next: Tiger Woods blames DUI arrest on new Prescription Pills

While we don’t yet know all the facts surrounding Tiger Woods arrest from the looks of it, he might be able to argue against his impairment.