What’s in a name? Not a lot, but it can get a little confusing when it comes to all the different terms used to describe a state’s prohibition against driving a vehicle while one is impaired by the use of drugs or alcohol. The most common term the everyday person uses is, of course, “drunk driving.” But when it comes to the title that a state gives it, it’s a real smorgasbord. In Oregon, it’s called Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants, or DUII for short. But other states call it Driving While Intoxicated (DWI), or call it Driving Under the Influence, and use the abbreviation DUI. Iowa calls it Operating While Intoxicated, or OWI.
It appears that states make an effort in applying a formal name for this offense to most accurately describe the true nature of the offense. We’ll get to Oregon’s standard for DUII in the next lesson, but the concern of most DUII prosecutors is that a juror will evaluate a driver charged with driving under the influence of intoxicants by gauging whether the person was “drunk” as that term is commonly understood. So the terms “influence,” “intoxicated” and/or “intoxicants” as in Driving While Intoxicated (DWS) or Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants (DUII) are used.
The laundry list of terms and abbreviations (DUII, DUI, DWI, OWI) and their full names emphasis that the issue is not whether the individual was drunk, but whether the individual was impaired by either drugs or alcohol, or a combination of both.
Oregon’s choice of a longer term, Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants, with the corresponding term of DUII, is arguably the most complete, in that it not only mentions “under the influence” but specifies that the condition is caused by “intoxicants.” And, of course, “intoxicants” refers to both drugs and alcoholic liquor.