# Flask full of Whiskey in the car. Can you get ticketed for open container? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 21, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flask-full-of-whiskey-in-the-car-can-you-get-ticketed-for-open-container/593539 "2011-08-21T16:55:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flask-full-of-whiskey-in-the-car-can-you-get-ticketed-for-open-container/593539/21 "2011-08-21T21:32:28Z")
Didn’t it used to be legal in Texas to drink and drive as long as you were on a county road and not over the limit or something like that? I remember bombing along back roads with my cousins and swilling 8 oz. stubbies with nobody saying a word about it. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flask-full-of-whiskey-in-the-car-can-you-get-ticketed-for-open-container/593539/22 "2011-08-21T22:26:13Z")
I had a thread a while back, but West Virginia allows the drinking of beer (but not wine or liquor) in a vehicle. However, there is no open container law, so an open bottle of wine or liquor would not get you cited. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flask-full-of-whiskey-in-the-car-can-you-get-ticketed-for-open-container/593539/23 "2011-08-21T22:28:39Z")
And here it is [WV beer--gimme one for the road.. - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=582587) ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flask-full-of-whiskey-in-the-car-can-you-get-ticketed-for-open-container/593539/24 "2011-08-22T01:23:43Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Where does an empty bottle of booze fit into this? I realized the other day that I had an empty bottle of one of those little $2 one-shot bottles of whiskey in my glove compartment from way back when (didn’t have a trash can to throw it into, so I just stuck it in the car to dispose of later, which I promptly forgot.) Oooh that reminds me! I gotta throw out a couple of those one-shot bottles that are in my car. I threw them in the floorwell of the passenger seat to get them out of my purse (we snuck them into the movie theater–arrest me) because I didn’t want to have a purse full of empty booze bottles at work. I gotta remember to throw those away. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flask-full-of-whiskey-in-the-car-can-you-get-ticketed-for-open-container/593539/25 "2011-08-22T05:43:46Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Whoa. It wouldn’t even have occurred to me that this might be legal somewhere in the US. Interesting. It doesn’t seem totally unreasonable. I mean, I see the arguments for making it illegal, but consider two situations: 1. You’re driving. You pull over, get out of the car, take a beer out of the back and drink it, then get back in the car and drive. 2. You’re driving while drinking a beer. Assuming you didn’t have anything to drink before you started and the beer doesn’t put you over the legal limit, it’s sort of silly to make one of those actions legal and the other one not. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flask-full-of-whiskey-in-the-car-can-you-get-ticketed-for-open-container/593539/26 "2011-08-22T05:55:25Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Also, I learned when I took that class that a 6 pack of beer, with one can missing is technically an open container. My lawyer says it is absolutely not an open container. The same goes for a case of beer that’s open or a cooler full of beer. An open container is just that. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flask-full-of-whiskey-in-the-car-can-you-get-ticketed-for-open-container/593539/27 "2011-08-22T06:09:11Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > It doesn’t seem totally unreasonable. > > I mean, I see the arguments for making it illegal, but consider two situations: > > 1. You’re driving. You pull over, get out of the car, take a beer out of the back and drink it, then get back in the car and drive. > 2. You’re driving while drinking a beer. > > Assuming you didn’t have anything to drink before you started and the beer doesn’t put you over the legal limit, it’s sort of silly to make one of those actions legal and the other one not. In New Zealand there is no such thing as an “open container” law. As to the legality of drinking while driving - I am not sure. My wild arsed guess is that it’s not a crime BUT if you got caught drinking alcohol while driving, you would be pinged for something like “not paying attention” or “distracted driving” (whatever the proper legal terms are) I do know that people are stopped regularly with passengers that are drinking, and nothing happpens. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flask-full-of-whiskey-in-the-car-can-you-get-ticketed-for-open-container/593539/28 "2011-08-22T06:39:27Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > It doesn’t seem totally unreasonable. > > I mean, I see the arguments for making it illegal, but consider two situations: > > 1. You’re driving. You pull over, get out of the car, take a beer out of the back and drink it, then get back in the car and drive. > 2. You’re driving while drinking a beer. > > Assuming you didn’t have anything to drink before you started and the beer doesn’t put you over the legal limit, it’s sort of silly to make one of those actions legal and the other one not. I don’t disagree with that at all. But I’m just used to the law here being written against any open containers of alcohol anywhere near the driver–whether he’s under the limit or not–that I’m surprised that there’s any states that allow drivers to drink. I agree the law’s a bit arbitrary–after all, you can just pour a shot into your large Coke and nobody would be the wiser. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flask-full-of-whiskey-in-the-car-can-you-get-ticketed-for-open-container/593539/29 "2011-08-22T06:42:16Z")
Whenever this discussion about open liquor and hatchbacks - no trunk came up, the answer was - in the farthest corner away from the driver (back of cargo area behind passenger). In Canada even passengers drinking is illegal AFAIK in all provinces. Even parked, car turned off (cue the recurring thread on “drunk driving” while parked sleeping it off) … there was a famous case decades ago where a bunch of guys were parked. One was drinking, the other not - the policeman asked the non-drinker to pass him the bottle, then charged him with possessing open liquor because he picked up the bottle. IIRC, the judge tossed that and established precedent for what was required for “possessing” open liquor. In Canada, a box of beer opened - even with no empties around - is considered open. I was once pulled over on my motorbike, and my passenger was carrying a 12-pack box. The cop even inspected the underside to be sure we were not pulling bottles out the bottom (I hadn’t thought of that one!). Not sure about cans in plastic rings. I remember being amazed when I visited Jackson Hole, Wyoming, IIRC about 1982, and the bar in town had a take-out drive-thru window. Quite a few years later it was gone. Those were the days. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flask-full-of-whiskey-in-the-car-can-you-get-ticketed-for-open-container/593539/30 "2011-08-23T04:15:09Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Also, I learned when I took that class that a 6 pack of beer, with one can missing is technically an open container. That is not correct. [At least in Wisconsin] an open container is one in which the “receptacle” (bottle, can, bag, jar, etc.) has had it’s seal open allowing the contents to be removed. Opening a cardboard box or undoing a can from a plastic ring does not allow the fluid inside to be [removed](http://law.justia.com/codes/wisconsin/2011/346/346.935.html) > [@drastic\_quench](#): > > My lawyer says it is absolutely not an open container. As did the Attorney General of Wisconsin in a DOJ publication a few years back. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flask-full-of-whiskey-in-the-car-can-you-get-ticketed-for-open-container/593539/31 "2011-08-23T04:35:03Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > It was legal in both Montana and Wyoming to drink while driving (as long as they weren’t above the 0.08% level) until very recently… > > I think it’s still perfectly legal for passengers in Montana, Wyoming and Louisiana to drink, even though they aren’t listed in the Wikipedia article. And concealed carry without permit in Wyoming! Woo-ee! ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flask-full-of-whiskey-in-the-car-can-you-get-ticketed-for-open-container/593539/32 "2011-08-23T04:44:39Z")
As I was driving over those old Bear Paw Mountains I was stopped by sheriff Farrell and his lights were both flashin’. He asked me for my license and my registration Then said “Step out the ve’cle for downtown I will take ya” He took me to the lockup and it was a sorry hellhole Bail cost all my money, yeah, and I had to call on **Opal** She swore she had warned me, and all of the lurkers She posted to the damn thread, the one about open containers On the Dope dum-a-doo dum-a-daa Post for the drinkers oooh Post for the filkers sooo There’s whiskey in the car, oh! ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flask-full-of-whiskey-in-the-car-can-you-get-ticketed-for-open-container/593539/33 "2011-08-24T22:43:15Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > In New Zealand there is no such thing as an “open container” law. > > As to the legality of drinking while driving - I am not sure. My wild arsed guess is that it’s not a crime BUT if you got caught drinking alcohol while driving, you would be pinged for something like “not paying attention” or “distracted driving” (whatever the proper legal terms are) > > I do know that people are stopped regularly with passengers that are drinking, and nothing happpens. Not only that but at least one of the road safety ads showed passengers drinking while the driver undergoes a breath test with no adverse comment. In fact the tagline went sometime like ‘If you don’t drink and drive your mates you’re a bloody good mate’. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flask-full-of-whiskey-in-the-car-can-you-get-ticketed-for-open-container/593539/34 "2011-08-26T22:17:01Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > I remember being amazed when I visited Jackson Hole, Wyoming, IIRC about 1982, and the bar in town had a take-out drive-thru window. Quite a few years later it was gone. Those were the days. Very nearly every bar and liquor store here in Northeast Wyoming has a drive-thru. ---
**Author:** ![Terry\_Kennedy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@Terry\_Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terry_Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flask-full-of-whiskey-in-the-car-can-you-get-ticketed-for-open-container/593539/35 "2011-08-27T04:36:12Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > I remember being amazed when I visited Jackson Hole, Wyoming, IIRC about 1982, and the bar in town had a take-out drive-thru window. Quite a few years later it was gone. Those were the days. In my various cross-country drives over the last 8 years or so, I’ve seen a number of bars with take-out windows, and a few drive-through liquor stores. The oddest thing was in (IIRC) West Virginia, where there was a recently-closed drive-through burger and beer joint. At the hotel that night, they knew about it and it had apparently closed a few months before, after having exhausted all of the possible legal appeals. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flask-full-of-whiskey-in-the-car-can-you-get-ticketed-for-open-container/593539/36 "2011-08-27T05:21:40Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > Not only that but at least one of the road safety ads showed passengers drinking while the driver undergoes a breath test with no adverse comment. In fact the tagline went sometime like ‘If you don’t drink and drive your mates you’re a bloody good mate’. Friend of the family and her friend were once driving the 2 hubbies home after a round of golf. Hubbies were in the back seat with a slab between them. Stopped at a random checkpoint. All that was said was to ask the back seat passengers put on their seatbelts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flask-full-of-whiskey-in-the-car-can-you-get-ticketed-for-open-container/593539.md?page=1)