ELI5: Can you get charged for being the passenger of a drunk driver?

Heres my story which makes me thing not all cops are bad. Afterwork party my boss made me go to a bar which lead to wayyy to much drinking. I ended up spending the entire 1 hour long train ride from NYC back to my house in the bathroom puking my brains out. When i got to my station i realized im screwed because its late, so no cab, and its the middle of februaruy. I did probably the dumbest thing which was start my car to put the heat on, but i did go sit in the back seat...and pass out. About an hour later i get a knock on the windown from a police office asking if im ok. I basically told him what happened because i knew there was no lying my way outta this. Despite the fact he could have hands down given me a DWI, he confirmed with me that I had no intention of driving and was only running the car for the heat. To which I obviously said yes. He then goes and calls a cab he knows from town to come pick me up and bring me home. Even mentioned he could help me out with paying if i didnt have any cash. I didnt but i declined the offer and stopped at an atm on the way home. I am well aware how insainly lucky I am, and I cannot commend/thank that police officer for handling it the way he did. He was a genuinly good person who weighed the possible outcomes and choose the one that benefited the community member over benefitting the department. It was such a selfless act - He could have easily charged me, arrested me, got me to pay the town 10k in fines, etc. But instead he took an alternate rout and simply ensured I got home safely, whithout endangering anyone else while at the same time getting a town member some busniess witha cab ride. So again thank you for that, Officer, and I hope you continue to be the type of police officer we need. Your service is much appreciated.

/r/explainlikeimfive Thread Parent