Understanding Upcoming DUI Statute Changes
Hi, I’m Tulsa criminal attorney Carl Birkhead. I’m here today to discuss the upcoming changes to our DUI statutes, which take effect on November 1st, 2025. So I’m not going to be able to get into the broad strokes or the details.
I guess I should say I only have time for the broad strokes right now, but the biggest thing that I want to get into is the fact that it is doing away with, completely doing away with, two other criminal charges that take place in these types of situations. One, driving while impaired, and two, actual physical control of the vehicle.
Changes in Driving While Impaired (DWI) Charges
So driving while impaired used to be, well, and is for the next week or so, a charge if you maybe had a couple of drinks, your driving is not up, your blood alcohol content is not 0.08, but it’s still impairing your driving. You’re swerving on the road, you’re going on the side, you’re hitting the shoulder, you might’ve hit Nana, I don’t know.
But something has caused you to lose your ability to drive appropriately because of drinking, taking some meds, or something like that. So even though you’re not technically over the legal limit, you’re still in violation of the statute according to how the statute was currently written. That’s no longer the case now.
Elimination of the Actual Physical Control (APC) Charge
The other version I was talking about was the actual physical control of the vehicle, APC. This has gone away completely. The wording of the statute now, the DUI statute, states plainly that if you are operating or in the actual physical control of that vehicle, you’re still going to be guilty of the DUI.
So, before and up to November 1st, it was as if you were in a car, but you weren’t driving it. Let’s say maybe you were just chilling in the driver’s seat or chilling in the passenger seat with the car on, radio on, but you couldn’t operate the vehicle. Let’s say maybe the keys were nowhere near you, you had no way to turn the car on, anything like that.
What This Means for Drivers
You’d be looking at an APC charge, which wouldn’t carry as much as probationary requirements as DUI. That’s gone now. Everything is now going to be under DUI. It doesn’t matter where you are. If you are drunk in a car, you could be charged with DUI for that. APC is out the window.
If you have any questions about this, please don’t hesitate to give me a call. This law is changing rapidly, and it’s going to give a lot of people just a lot of shell shock and a lot of whiplash. I’m Tulsa DUI attorney Carl Birkhead. I’m with the Wirth Law Office, and I want to help you make law easy.
Contact Us for a Strategy Session
If you’re unsure about how these changes may affect you, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We offer a low-cost initial strategy session to navigate these new legal waters together. Call us today at 918-879-1681 to schedule your consultation and make an informed decision.
