Drunk Driving Charge Without ''Driving'' or ''Operating'' the Car

The crime defined in AS 28.35.030(a) is usually referred to as "driving while intoxicated". The text of this statute speaks of a person who "operates or drives a motor vehicle". Nevertheless, an intoxicated person can commit this crime without "driving" or "operating" a car in the usual sense. the statute is violated whenever an intoxicated person is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle. See Department of Public Safety v. Conley, 754 P.2d 232, 234 (Alaska 1988); Mezak v. State, 877 P.2d 1307, 1308 (Alaska App. 1994). See also AS 28.40.100(a)(7), which defines "driver" as "a person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle".