“It is clear when a person decides that they are to drunk to drive so they sleep in their car at the bar. If they turn it on to stay warm they are ticketed and run threw the money making system.”
Yep, the term is “operational control” and it doesn’t have to be at a bar, it can be in your driveway. And your car doesn’t have to be road-worthy either. One guy got a DUI because he ran his car in his driveway, rev’ing it up, without a muffler (neighbor complained). Yes he was drunk, but the car had its tires removed and was ON BLOCKS. He still got the ticket, and then a lawyer. I don’t know how it ended, but I assume a judge threw it out. But the ticket was STILL valid.
There’s a website (not sure where) that talked about this case and many others...you are RIGHT, it is a money scam.
I can’t recall where I read the statistic (might have been here in an article), but it basically amounted to “you will have at least one run in with law enforcement over the course of your life”. When we have tons of laws on the books that in essence penalize you for what “could have” happened, not actually what DID happen, it is safe to say most of our laws are for nothing more than fleecing the citizenry.