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Roanoke Women Charged With DUI For Backseat Driving

By: Sharon Rae // February 22, 2013
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A backseat passenger in a car that ran off the road and crashed in Virginia has been charged with driving under the influence.

Brandi Snow Williams, 23, has been charged with misdemeanor DUI and reckless driving after another passenger said she grabbed the steering wheel — from the back seat — causing the crash.

Williams, who is from Roanoke, and four others were hurt in the Bedford County accident.

While rare, a DUI charge filed against a backseat passenger is not unprecedented in the Commonwealth.

Ten years ago, the Court of Appeals of Virginia upheld a guilty verdict of a man who, while riding drunk, grabbed the wheel of a car, causing an accident.

And, in 2009 in Alexandria, a man found sleeping in a parked car with the keys in the ignition was found guilty of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

The conviction was upheld by the state Court of Appeals.

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