Everyone knows that if someone has been operating a vehicle while impaired, they may be charged with DWI. However, it is possible for 
someone to be charged with DWI even if they were not the person driving the vehicle. You are now saying to yourself: That is impossible! How can I be charged with driving while impaired when I was not driving?
The answer is that North Carolina allows for the crime of aiding and abetting a DWI. If a person “aids and abets” a DWI, the punishment is equivalent to a Level 5 DWI Sentence, which includes a suspension of license for 12 months, as well as an insurance increase of over 300%.
Someone is guilty of aiding and abetting a DWI when he is “present, actually or constructively, with the intent to aid the perpetrators in the commission of the offense should his assistance become necessary and…such intent was communicated to the actual perpetrators.” State v. Sanders, 288 N.C. 285, 290-91 (1975). Just being present in the vehicle at the time of the DWI, however, is not enough. The State would have to show that the passenger either know or should have known that the driver was impaired and that the passenger somehow participated beyond just being in the vehicle.
The level of participation may vary depending on the facts pertinent to the case; however, simply being aware that the driver has been drinking is likely not going to be enough. It must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the person was aware the other was “materially and appreciably impaired.”
So, the moral of the story is that if you are a passenger in a vehicle containing an impaired driver, you may face a DWI charge in the state of North Carolina. Be aware that you do not have to answer police questions that may serve to incriminate you.
