OWI in Indiana: the law, the limits and the device
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Indiana calls it OWI — operating while intoxicated, and you will see OVWI and DUI and drunk driving used for the same offense. What follows is what this state sets, taken from its own published rules rather than from a national summary.
What Indiana law actually requires
Indiana handles this through specialized driving privileges granted by a court under I.C. 9-30-16, and the interlock is a condition the judge may attach. Two details help: suspensions arising from the same episode are served concurrently, and the court may credit time from a suspension that began before conviction.
- First offense: Set by the court as a condition of specialized driving privileges; the installation period is credited against the suspension
- Lockout threshold: Set by the certified device standard under IC 9-30-8
- Program run by: The petitioning court, with the record held by Indiana BMV
Source: www.in.gov, checked 2026-08-23
DUI vs OWI in Indiana
Indiana uses OWI, and the difference from plain DUI is worth getting right: both describe driving impaired, and locally the charge is written as OWI — operating while intoxicated
Whatever it is called, the licensing consequence is the same shape: a suspension, then the device as the condition of driving again. All six abbreviations, side by side →
Can you get a OWI on a bike or a horse in Indiana?
It turns on one word in the statute. Where the law says “vehicle”, no engine is required and the charge can reach a bicycle, a horse or a mobility scooter. Where it says “motor vehicle”, the analysis is different. This is decided by your state’s own wording, not by national custom, and it is the first thing to check before assuming a bike ride home is safe.
How often this happens in Indiana
Federal crash records show the scale the state is legislating against, and how it compares with the country.
Cases are heard where the stop happened, and volume shapes local practice. These IN counties record the most:
Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System, 2020–2022. Counts crashes where police recorded that a driver had been drinking, which is narrower than the federal 0.08 measure and therefore understates the real figure. Indiana runs at or below the national share.
What it costs to get driving again in Indiana
Indiana does not publish a price cap we could verify, so the quote is the number and your only leverage is a competitor nearby. The national reference points are installation and a monthly fee, with calibration visits every 30 to 60 days.
The two clocks in Indiana
The court case and the licensing case run separately. The licensing side moves first, and in the strictest states the window to request a hearing is measured in days — it runs whether or not you have hired anyone.
Indiana cities
The county that hears your case is set by where the stop happened, and local practice differs across the state.
OWI questions in Indiana
Is it called DUI or OWI in Indiana?
Indiana uses OWI — operating while intoxicated. You will also see OVWI, DUI, drunk driving used for the same thing. The label follows the state, not the seriousness of what happened, so paperwork from elsewhere may say something different about identical conduct.
What is the legal limit in Indiana?
0.08% for drivers 21 and over, as in every state except Utah, which sits at 0.05%. Below the limit you can still be charged if an officer documents impairment. The reading that triggers the interlock here is a separate number: Set by the certified device standard under IC 9-30-8
How long does the interlock stay on after a first offense in Indiana?
Set by the court as a condition of specialized driving privileges; the installation period is credited against the suspension The program is run by The petitioning court, with the record held by Indiana BMV.
Can you get an OWI on a horse or a bicycle in Indiana?
The answer is in whether the statute says “vehicle” or “motor vehicle”. Where it says vehicle, no engine is needed and the charge can reach a bike or a horse; where it says motor vehicle, it cannot. This is one of the most searched questions in the whole subject and one of the most confidently answered wrongly — the wording of your own state decides it.
When a charge becomes a felony → The test and the refusal → SR-22 and FR-44 →
Attorney advertising. InterlockDeviceNearMe is not a law firm, does not practice law, and does not give legal advice. Nothing here creates an attorney-client relationship. Requesting a consultation connects you with an independent attorney or a legal referral service, who decide separately whether to take your case. Case outcomes depend on facts we do not know, and no result is ever promised. Deadlines in DUI cases are short and vary by state — speak to a licensed attorney in your state before relying on anything you read here.