Legal Question in Traffic Law in Wisconsin

DUI, OWI, Driving While Intoxicated in a Parking Lot

Unfortunately, in WI, there is no requirement that drunken driving occur on a public roadway. The penalty is therefore the same regardless of whether you were in a private parking lot or on a road. At sentencing, however, the judge may take into account the dangerousness of your driving and treat you more leniently if it was not a potentially dangerous situation. For example, one might get a break if it were a totally empty lot with no other persons nearby who could have been hurt, and the intent was not to drive on the road but rather to just relocate within the lot to a better lighted location prior to leaving the vehicle for the night. On the other hand, a .13 these days is a very high reading, only minimally below the current federally mandated limit of .08. The judge might therefore feel that you deserve harsher punishment due to the reading. Either way, you should consult with an experienced OWI lawyer as soon as possible, particularly because your right to save your license expires on the tenth day after you were issued the ticket, unless your lawyer extends the time limit by requesting administrative review. Good luck!