How do the DUI laws in America interact with motorhomes? I understand that motorhomes are very popular. So, if one evening, you’re parked, sitting listening to the radio having had a glass or two of wine with your meal, can you be done for DUI?
Good question. I think most DUI requires the vehicle to be on the street (or have been seen on the street). I doubt that if you are on private land it matters unless there’s a problem they have to investigate.
Can you get DUI for going out to the garage and sitting in the car and chugging a few?
I know it’s not uncommon to charge someone for DUI for sleeping it off in a parked car on the street. Even if you are in the passenger seat, if you are in the car, and have the keys, and nobody sober is occupying the driver’s seat, you can be charged.
Some states, like in Canada, have open liquor laws, I understand. Simply having an open bottle of liquor in the vehicle can result in a charge, whether the driver has been drinking (yet) or not. So not even passengers can consume alcohol. Not sure how limo’s andparty busses get away with this.
I recall in Jackson Hole many years ago, the bar had a drive-thru window for takeout drinks (in 1983). It’s gone last I saw (2002).
It depends. If it’s parked on a public roadway or even on private property that is open to the public (like the parking lot of the Walmart) and you are over the legal BAC limit then you can be pinched. Even if you’re not drunk you can be cited for having an open container in a motor vehicle, even if it is a motor home, if it’s operated or even parked on a public roadway (or private property opened to the public).
This, by the way, is Wisconsin law. YMMV depending on which state you’re in.
The open container statutes I’ve read make exceptions for the “living compartment” of campers (and the passenger area of chartered busses), so I think you’d be okay there. Given that in some places you can get a DUI charge for sleeping it off the back seat of a car with the keys in the trunk, I don’t doubt that they might try to go after you for being drunk in your motor home. I wonder if you were having a party if they would charge everyone!
I don’t know if this is still the case, but the reason for the drive-thru windows at bars in Wyoming is that you couldn’t buy beer and wine at grocery stores. Since lots of little towns didn’t have a a liquor store, the only place to get it was at bars, so the drive through windows were there so you could grab a six-pack on the way home without actually having to enter the bar. So they (in theory) only sell package liquor in the window-- it’s not like the ones in New Orleans where you could get drinks to go! The drive-thru disappearing in Jackson between your two visits is probably because the town grew massively between your two visits and I’m sure they’ve got a liquor store or two now.
Wisconsins doesn’t. The only exception here are Limos and buses operated by a chauffeur.
Notice the statute says “Upon a Public highway” so I may have been incorrect about it being on private property that is open to the public. That might be covered under local ordinance, however.