What does driving under the influence mean? Driving under the influence means a number of different things. It's really broken down into two components. First is the driving, second is the under the influence. In Iowa, we're an operation state which means it's illegal to operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Operation is defined as the actual physical control of a motor vehicle that either is in motion or the engine is running, so in Iowa, you don't have to be actually driving the motor vehicle to be charged with operating while intoxicated.The second component is they while intoxicated or under the influence, and there's really three different ways that the state can charge and prosecute an individual for operating while intoxicated. The first is that the individual has alcohol concentration in excess 0.08, the legal limit so to say. The second alternative would be the claim or to allege that the individual has any amount of controlled substance in their system at the time they're operating the motor vehicle, this includes prescription medications that include illicit drugs.And under the influence is defined as when by consuming alcohol or a drug, the individual's mental abilities are affected, they've lost control of bodily reactions or emotions, their judgments impaired or they become visibly excited. Any one of those four alternatives can result in an individual being charged and potentially convicted of operating while intoxicated so it's imperative to contact an attorney, to contact somebody who knows how to challenge that process and get things moving quickly efficiently right off the bat.
