DUI Resource Information

Ohio´s DUI Law

Driving While Under the Influence of Alcohol and/or Drugs
R.C. §4511.19

A. No person shall operate any vehicle within this state, if any of the following apply:

1. The person is under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse, or alcohol and a drug of abuse;

2. The person has a concentration of eight-hundredths of one per cent or more by weight of alcohol in his blood;

3. The person has a concentration of eight-hundredths of one gram or more by weight of alcohol per two hundred ten liters of his breath;

4. The person has a concentration of twelve-hundredths of one gram or more by weight of alcohol per one hundred milliliters of his urine.


B. No person under twenty-one years of age shall operate any vehicle within this state, if any of the following apply:


1. The person has a concentration of at least two-hundredths of one per cent but less than eight-hundredths of one per cent by weight of alcohol in his blood;

2. The person has a concentration of at least two-hundredths of one gram but less than eight-hundredths of one gram by weight of alcohol per two hundred ten liters of his breath;

3. The person has a concentration of at least twenty-eight one-thousandths of one gram but less than twelve-hundredths of one gram by weight of alcohol per one hundred milliliters of his urine.

ELEMENTS OF THE DUI OFFENSE

1. Person

2. Operate

3. Vehicle

4. Within Ohio

5. While Under The Influence of Alcohol/Drugs of Abuse [(A)(1) above]

and/or

With a Prohibited Alcohol Content [(A)(2),(3),(4); (B)(1),(2)(3) above]

DEFINITIONS OF THE DUI ELEMENTS

1. "Person" means any living human being.

2. "Operate" is a broader term than driving. It includes not only a person being in control of a vehicle while it is in motion, but also a person, whether conscious or unconscious, in the driver's location in the front seat of a stationary vehicle so as to be capable of doing any act or series of acts which could or contribute to the vehicle being put into motion. It is not necessary to prove that the person in the driver's location of a stationary vehicle ever had the vehicle in motion or intended to put the vehicle in motion. "Operation" includes a person who is in the driver's seat with the ignition key in the ignition whether or not the engine of the vehicle is running. Ohio Jury Instruction 545.25, §2 & State v. Gill, 70 Ohio St.3d 150 (1994).

3. "Vehicle" means every device, including a motorized bicycle, in, upon, or by which any person or property may be transported or drawn upon a highway, except motorized wheelchairs, devices moved by power collected from overhead electric trolley wires, or used exclusively upon rails or tracks, and devices other than bicycles moved by human power. R.C. §4511.01(A). Ohio courts have ruled that a "vehicle" includes a mounted bicycle, snowmobile, golf cart, riding lawn mower, and farm tractor. Conversely, it does not include a mounted horse or dismounted bicyclist.

4. "Within Ohio" means specifically that; anywhere within this state whether on public or private property, whether on or off road.

5. "Under The Influence of Alcohol" means that the person consumed some alcohol, whether mild or potent, in such a quantity, whether small or great, that it adversely affected and appreciably impaired the person's actions, reactions, and mental processes under the circumstances then existing and deprived him of the clearness of intellect and control of himself which he would otherwise have possessed. The question is what effect did any alcohol consumed by the person have on him at the time and place involved. If the consumption so affected the nervous system, brain, or muscles of the person so as to impair to an appreciable degree his ability to operate the vehicle, then the person was under the influence. Ohio Jury Instruction 545.25, §6. "Appreciable" means noticeable or perceptible. Ohio Jury Instruction 545.25, §7.

6. "With a Prohibited Alcohol Content" means the person had within his body:

A. an alcohol concentration of ten-hundredths of one per cent or more by weight of alcohol in his blood [R.C. §4511.19(A)(2)]; or

B. an alcohol concentration of eight-hundredths of one gram or more by weight of alcohol per two hundred ten liters of his breath [R.C. §4511.19(A)(3)]; or

C. an alcohol concentration of twelve-hundredths of one gram or more by weight of alcohol per one hundred milliliters of his urine [R.C. §4511.19(A)(4)]; or

For a vehicle operator under the age of twenty-one:

D. an alcohol concentration of at least two-hundredths of one per cent but less than eight-hundredths of one per cent by weight of alcohol in his blood [R.C. §4511.19(B)(1)]; or

E. an alcohol concentration of at least two-hundredths of one gram but less than eight-hundredths of one gram by weight of alcohol per two hundred ten liters of his breath [R.C. §4511.19(B)(2)]; or

F. an alcohol concentration of at least twenty-eight one-thousandths of one gram but less than twleve-hundredths of one gram by weight of alcohol per one hundred milliliters of his urine [R.C. §4511.19(B)(3)].