This is a question for the LEOs -- it was inspired by the Brooks case, but I don't want to rehash that. I'm interested in the specific question of how and where the line is drawn between "sitting in a parked vehicle" and "operating a motor vehicle".
I'm interested because when I was young, I often slept in my car on long trips because I didn't want to pay for a hotel. I'd get off the highway, try to find a quiet dark residential street, park, put the seat back, and sleep for a few hours. I never would have considered myself to be operating the vehicle once the key was in my pocket.
So I just looked up my state laws:
Under general definitions:
259:24 Drive. – "Drive," in all its moods and tenses, shall mean to operate or be in actual physical control of a motor vehicle, OHRV, or snowmobile.
Under DWI rules, I found this, which while referring to boats suggests that being parked is not operating:
V. "Operate," when used in relation to a boat, means to drive, paddle, row, or exercise control over any boat unless the boat is at anchor, docked, made fast, or moored.
And the DWI rule starts:
265-A:2 Driving or Operating Under Influence of Drugs or Liquor; Driving or Operating With Excess Alcohol Concentration. –
I. No person shall drive or attempt to drive a vehicle upon any way or operate or attempt to operate an OHRV:
I know rules vary in different jurisdictions. In your world, when is someone in a parked car "operating" or "driving" it? Does it matter if the key is in the ignition or in their pocket? Does it matter if they are in the drivers' seat or another seat? Does it matter if the parking is on the side of a public way or in a parking lot?
Thanks in advance for your time.