Vault: Can You Get a DUI…While Sleeping?

Summary

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The Bert Show – Vault: Can You Get a DUI…While Sleeping?

Episode Date: March 26, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode delves into a widely debated urban legend: Can you get a DUI (Driving Under the Influence) if you're sleeping in your car while intoxicated, with no intention of driving? The Bert Show crew investigates with real-life stories, listener calls, and, crucially, expert insight from a police officer. The central goal: clearing up misconceptions and understanding how laws vary, especially comparing Minnesota’s legal perspective with that of Georgia.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: The Minnesota Case

• Host introduces a case where an intoxicated man slept in his car in Minnesota, not driving, and yet received a DUI (00:31).
  • “So about two hours later, police officer takes his flashlight… You wake up, and he says, 'I’m sorry, you’re getting busted for a DUI.'”
• The crew questions whether this would hold true in Georgia or elsewhere.

2. Listener & Crew Stories: What Really Happens?

• Listener/Caller 1 recounts his personal experience, paralleling the Minnesota story but in Atlanta. He:
  • Waited in his car, started the AC from the passenger seat, and was warned by an officer that even as a non-driver, he could be considered in “control” of the vehicle because the keys were in the ignition (03:16 – 04:07).
  • “He said, just so you know, you’re in a running car right now. It would be gray, but you could be considered the operator of this motor vehicle. He said, just to be safe, I wouldn’t start it, and I would even go back inside and give the keys to the person who’s going to drive you home.” (04:07)
• Caller 3 shares her husband’s story: after partying in Athens, he tried to sleep it off in his car with the keys in the ignition and wound up charged with a DUI, despite reclining the seat as far back as possible (04:42 – 05:40).
  • “They said, 'We don’t know that you weren’t planning on driving, and you just passed out before you could.'” (05:33)

3. Questions About Legal Details

• The crew raises specific questions:
  • Does sitting in the back seat versus the driver’s seat matter?
  • What about where the keys are—ignition vs. elsewhere in the car?
  • Do laws differ by state (e.g., Minnesota vs. Georgia)? (02:49 – 03:13)

4. Officer Alexander Brings the Law (Georgia’s Perspective)

• Officer Alexander, an Atlanta police officer, calls in to clarify Georgia law (06:36 – 08:55):
  • “You have to be in physical control of that car. That car has to be in motion; you have to be in full control of it. ... But if you’re in a parking lot and you’re passed out in the front seat and the keys are on the back seat or on the seat, you will not get charged with a DUI in the state of Georgia.” (06:59)
  • Possession of keys matters most when intent and car movement are possible.
  • If the keys are in the ignition (even in park), there’s more risk for a DUI.
  • Sleeping it off safely: Stay out of the driver’s seat, keep the keys out of the ignition. (08:50 – 08:54)

5. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The reclining thing—I saw somebody behind me on the interstate that was reclined in their seat. That doesn’t mean anything because ... there’s some people that actually drive with the seat back as much as possible.” — Host, on the myth that a reclined seat alone would prove no intent to drive (05:53).
• "If you decide to get in your car and sleep it off in a parking lot... stay out of the driver's seat... and keep the keys out of the ignition." — Officer Alexander’s advice (08:50 – 08:54).
• Crew humor: On getting caught passed out at a strip club — “You don’t want to wake up in the backseat of a car with another dude in the parking lot of a gentleman’s club when the sun comes up.” (06:21)
• “Drunk logic, always. ‘I’ll feel so much better if I can take a 90-second nap.’” — Caller 1, on poor drunk-driving decisions (09:12).

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Important Segments with Timestamps

• [00:31] — Introduction of the Minnesota case
• [03:16 – 04:07] — Caller 1's real-life Atlanta experience and police advice
• [04:42 – 05:40] — Caller 3’s Athens story (keys in ignition = DUI)
• [06:36 – 08:55] — Officer Alexander’s detailed legal explanation & advice
• [08:50 – 08:54] — Officer Alexander’s clear instructions for staying DUI-safe
• [09:10 – 09:20] — Comic relief on "drunk logic" and real dangers

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Conclusions & Takeaways

• DUI Laws Are Context-Dependent: Location, position in the car, keys’ whereabouts, and the state you’re in play crucial roles.
• In Georgia:
  • Being in the driver’s seat with the keys in the ignition, even if not moving = high risk for DUI charge.
  • Back seat or passenger seat with keys away from ignition, especially in a private lot = much safer legally.
• Best Practice:
  • Don’t sit in the driver's seat.
  • Keep the keys entirely out of the ignition—and even better, give them to someone else if you can.
  • If you’re drunk, get a ride or stay where you are. Sleeping in your car is risky, but position matters.

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The Bert Show uses humor and honesty to answer a serious question—so next time you think about sleeping it off in your car, remember their advice and always err on the side of legal (and personal) safety.

Transcript

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[Host]

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[Caller 1]

They were pouring them deep. I didn't, I mean, I just got a couple drinks all about Opera.

[Host]

So you just get your drink on too much and you drove down to Opera and you know there's no way that you can drive back. You're hammered. You know it. But you go to your car and you sit behind the driver's or behind the steering wheel and you crash. You put the keys, let's say you put them on the passenger seat, right? And you pass out in your car because you don't want to drive home.

[Caller 1]

Well, I can give you a real life example that's almost identical to what you're saying.

[Host]

Okay, let me just finish this example and it's all yours, dude. So about two hours later, three hours later, whatever, four in the morning, police officer takes his flashlight to the window or whatever. So can you roll on your window, you wake up or whatever, and he says, I'm sorry, you're getting busted for a dui. You're like, I'm sitting here crashed out of my car, man. I knew I didn't. I don't want to drive.

[Caller 2]

I'm hammered. I'm hammered.

[Host]

I'm sitting here trying to sleep the whole thing off. Sorry, sir. You're behind the wheel of a car, you get a DUI even if it's not moving. Even if it's not moving. This is exactly what happened in Minnesota. And the three judge panel said that, yeah, they weren't real sure if he was intending to drive or not when he went to the vehicle. And even though he passed out, they gave him the dui, stood up.

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See, I've heard it like, if you keep the keys in the ignition, like, and you have the car either running or just keys are in the ignition, period, that you can get busted. But never if they're like over on the other side of the car.

[Host]

And that's the clarification I want from a police officer because I've heard that also.404741q100 this case in Minnesota, this dude had the keys on the console. So they weren't in the ignition. But I wonder if that does play a part. Now if you're hammered and you go into the back seat, is it different than if you're in the front seat, driver side, or do you have to be away from your vehicle altogether? Or does this not apply in Georgia?

[Caller 2]

Yeah, I think probably state laws are different.

[Caller 1]

When I was in doing the appearances at Vision every week for, I don't know, three or four or five years ago, whenever Vision was open, I left the bar once, like when my appearance was over and I was getting a ride home, but I just didn't want to be. Cause I was having that whole overserved issue. So I didn't want to be whatever. So I went to the parking lot, sat in my own car in the passenger seat because somebody was going to drive me home. And sat there and waited, like, you know, sleeping, just wait, you know, killing time. Because park person who was driving me home worked at the bar, so counting money, putting away booze, whatever. And I took the keys out of my pocket and from the passenger seat, started the car and turned on the air conditioning. It was lying in there. And had a police officer come up to me and said, you can get. I didn't get in trouble.

[Host]

But he said for being on the passenger side too.

[Caller 1]

He said, just so you know, you're in a running car right now. You're the only person in there, but that's the difference. The car's registered to you. And he said it's a. You could. He said it would be gray, but you could be considered the operator of this motor vehicle. He said, just to be safe, I wouldn't start it, and I would even go back inside and give the keys to the person who's going to drive you home. So there's absolutely no question, but that's

[Caller 2]

the consistency of the keys and the ignition here, except for that person that you're talking about.

[Host]

So I want to get clarification. Where do the keys need to be? Do you need to be out of the car entirely? And Officer Alexander is going to answer those questions in just a couple of seconds. Hey. Hey, Sarah. Good Morning. You're on Q100.

[Caller 3]

Hey. I went to the University of Georgia, and my husband was partying downtown and was too drunk to drive home. So he went to his car, which was in one of the town decks, and he did get in the driver's seat, but he reclined the seat all the way back because he knew he couldn't drive. But he stick the keys in the ignition, and lo and behold, he had to knock on the window, and an officer told him to get out of the car, and he was charged with dui.

[Host]

All right, so this case here is keys in the ignition, therefore DUI is what you're saying, right?

[Caller 3]

Yes. I think the officer told him that if the keys hadn't been in the ignition, that he wouldn't. Wouldn't have been charged. And I think he might have even said something about if he had been in the passenger seat. But they said, we don't know that you weren't planning on driving, and you just passed out before you could. And his. He was saying, but I reclined the seat completely. It was flat. There's no way I'd be able to see. And it didn't matter. And they charged him with dui, and he felt he should have been charged, if with anything. Public drunkenness.

[Host]

Cool.

[Caller 1]

Thank you. Thanks.

[Host]

So really what we need to do here in a second is.

[Caller 1]

I know why he drinks.

[Caller 2]

Well, I was thinking. Yeah, well, the reclining thing. I saw somebody behind me on the interstate that was reclined in their seat. That doesn't mean anything because there's some

[Host]

people that actually drive with the seat

[Caller 2]

back lane back as much as possible is weird.

[Host]

Hey, Ryan. Good Morning. You're on Q100.

[Officer Alexander]

How's it going?

[Host]

All right, dude. What's up?

[Officer Alexander]

Me and one of my buddies with a gentleman's club down in Atlanta, and we were in the backseat of my car. It was winter time. So we had the keys in the ignition, had the heater running, and I got arrested for a dui.

[Host]

Backseat of the car.

[Officer Alexander]

Backseat of the car.

[Host]

Keys in the ignition, Right?

[Officer Alexander]

He's in the ignition. But we were in the backseat passed out.

[Host]

Okay, let's get going.

[Officer Alexander]

About 4:30 in the morning.

[Caller 2]

So it was a consistent thing.

[Caller 1]

I gotta tell you. That's actually. I would thank the cop because you don't want to wake up in the backseat of a car with another dude in the parking lot of a gentleman's club when the sun comes up. Like you want that entire situation to be resolved in the dark. You know what I mean?

[Host]

This is Officer Alexander who can tell us what the law is here in Georgia. Hi, Officer. Officer.

[Officer Alexander]

Hey. How you doing this morning?

[Host]

Good. How are you?

[Officer Alexander]

Good.

[Host]

All right, so we would really like to get some clarification on this and then we'll go ahead and give away the Jonas Brothers tickets in Georgia. What is the law as far as, like, passing out in your car and where the keys need to be in the car for you not to get a dui?

[Officer Alexander]

You have to be in physical control of that car. So that car has to be in motion. You have to be in full control of it. So if you're in a driver's seat, you got the car running and say you're passed out and the car is engaged in the drive position, but your foot's on the brake. Okay, you could be charged with a dui. But if you're in parking, you're in a private property and you're parked and you're passed out the front seat and the keys are on the back seat or on the. On the. On the seat, you will not get charged with a UI in the state of Georgia.

[Caller 2]

Now, everything we've talked about up to this point is that people who were maybe not in the past in the driver's seat, the car was running, and even the car wasn't running. There were some that were just saying that they had the key in and they. The car, the engine may not be running. Is the key to this. The keys where if they are not in the ignition, you will not be charged.

[Officer Alexander]

You will not be charged.

[Host]

Really?

[Officer Alexander]

It depends on the situation. To the total picture, if you're passed out and your car is in the middle of the road. Now, we've had a case like this. Yeah, well, we've actually had somebody passed out in the backseat and the driver was crunched over the steering wheel in the roadway. It was an unsafe situation. No lights on. It was early morning, probably about 5:30 in the morning. He did not get Charged with the UI now, because when we spoke to them, they started getting belligerent. Then we end up charging them with disorderly conduct and public drunk. And both drivers went to jail, but they did not get a dui.

[Host]

Well, I would think if he's in the middle of the street, then he's proven to you that he's already driven the car drunk.

[Caller 2]

So I guess the question, officer, is that for people who are trying to keep from driving, but they don't get. Want to get a taxi, they just want to sleep it off. If they decide to get in their car and sleep it off in a

[Caller 1]

parking lot in the trunk.

[Caller 2]

Yeah, we just want to, you know. Yeah. So just saying that the. The answer is, if you decide to do that, then don't be saying, stay

[Officer Alexander]

out of the driver's seat.

[Host]

Stay out of the driver's seat. Keep the keys out of the ignition.

[Officer Alexander]

And keep the keys out of the ignition.

[Host]

Okay.

[Caller 1]

And don't do what my cousin did when I was in high school and fall asleep at a red light.

[Officer Alexander]

No, Exactly. Another prime example right there.

[Caller 1]

He was coming home from a bar and he had a few drinks and he goes, you know what? I know this is a long light. I'm just gonna close my eyes for

[Host]

just for one second. Yeah.

[Caller 1]

And like, he woke up to the drunk logic. Drunk logic, always. I'll feel so much better if I can take a 90 second nap.

[Host]

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