Will I go to jail for a DWI DUI on a boat, ATV, snowmobile, or recreational vehicle?
Whether you get your DWI in a boat, car, ATV, or snowmobile, the same sentencing statutes apply. Prosecutors and judges will not distinguish between the mode of transportation when considering punishment. If your first DWI on record was committed in a vehicle, and your second offense in a 10 year period was committed in a boat, Minn. Stat. 169A.275 and its mandatory jail time provisions will still apply.
The question of jail will come down to the factors of your case. Do you have prior history, how high was your chemical test result, did you submit to a chemical test, did you have children in the vehicle or boat with you, did you get into an accident, etc. Each case will be assessed by a prosecutor, and possibly a judge at the time of sentencing, and punishment including jail, will be determined.
But, ultimately, just because the offense happened in something other than a passenger motor vehicle on the roadway, does not mean that the risk of jail time is somehow decreased because of that fact alone. An offense on an ATV can be treated just like had it happened in a motor vehicle.
