Many people may think that law enforcement only makes drunk driving arrests in the evening or at night. While the majority of driving while impaired allegations may arise at the end of the day, from time-to-time police may arrest a driver in the morning. A recent story carried by WCCO television in the Twin Cities covered the topic of morning DWI arrests.
Police claim that the majority of morning DWI arrests fall into two main categories–those involving chronic drinkers, and those who may have had too much to drink the night before and may not realize that alcohol remains in their system. We have previously spoken about the dissipation of alcohol in a person’s system in a few contexts, but not in the context of a morning DWI arrest.
Occasionally, a person may go to bed after a night of drinking and not realize how much alcohol is in their system, or how little time remains before the person is to arise in the morning. If the alcohol remains above a 0.08 percent BAC reading when a person arises in the morning, that person may not realize that the morning commute could involve a DWI investigation (as long as law enforcement has a proper basis for the stop).
But law enforcement also looks for other ways to enforce Minnesota’s DWI laws during the morning. One Eagan police officer recently told WCCO that he may patrol parking lots behind bars or restaurants in the morning looking for someone sleeping in a car. But police also say that many morning DWI arrests come after a traffic accident.
Source: CBS Minnesota WCCO, “MN State Patrol: Report Morning Drunk Drivers,” Rachel Slavik, April 29, 2013
