Passenger Drinking in Car

In My Humble Opinion
1

Hello Folks-

Note that I’m looking for opinions of those who might be in the know, not definitive legal advice.

What’s your opinion in general (I know state laws are different), on the following scenario:

You have three people on a road trip through the west. While person 1 is driving her shift, persons 2 & 3 sit in the back of the conversion van and drink beer. The person driving is not the owner of the van and has not had any beer at all. The person driving gets pulled over for a speeding violation…or maybe for no apparent reason. Who is responsible for the open container liquor violation? Does the person responsible vary by state?

Feel free to ask clarifying questions.

Thanks!

2

Heart, since you’re from the chicago area, and I know Illinois law, I’ll give you my take.

  1. If the vehicle has RV or Livery plates, no one is in trouble, as long as the driver can’t reach a container.

  2. The person with the alchohol gets the ticket (usually in the neighborhood of $50 in most municipalities). Again, the driver cannot have access to it.

  3. FYI. You CAN get a dui under .08 BAC.

Not sure about other states though.

3

In my state, South Dakota, no matter if you have had any alcohol or not, if there is alcohol in the car, you are in trouble.

4

Here’s a cite on Open Container Laws.

All states must have had them by 1 October 200 or lose a part of their federal highway funds.

Some states are strict and some are not so strict. In California it is illegal to have an open container in the passenger compartment. The driver gets fined. If you are under 21 it used to be illegal to have any container of alcohol in the passenger compartement, open or not, and I think it still is.

5

I don’t know if there’s any room for interpretation here – using the definition from a link I found:

“Prohibits unsealed alcohol containers in motor vehicle passenger compartments for all occupants. Arresting officer not required to witness consumption.”
So that’s to say that if I have half a bottle of scotch that I’m taking to a friends dinner party, and it’s in the cabin of my car but I haven’t had a drop of it prior to driving, that I am in violation? Seems obvious but also very stupid.

6

I think yes. Put it in the trunk.

7

I saw that Driving Defense website already. The thing that confuses me is the verbiage:

“your vehicle” I might be driving one of the drinking passengers’ vehicle. Do I get the fine, or does he get the fine?

and “accessible to the driver” I can’t reach all the way back into the van’s rear end, but certainly someone could hand the drink to me.

8

I once had a car with no trunk, the cabin was totally open. A Police Officer told me it would be against the law to transport open containers.
He then told me that if the liquid was in an unmarked conainer, it would be a gray area. It was not like I was going to decant beer into another bottle.

9

Everything here will vary by state, but I can give you a few examples I’ve been party to here in Jersey.

  1. Three friends were riding in a borrowed car. The driver was 19, the two passengers were 16 (no license yet). They were stopped, and a search of the vehicle revealed an open, empty beer bottle under a seat. The bottle was bone dry and cobwebby – obviously weeks old.

The driver lost his licence for a year, and the two passengers weren’t able to get their licenses until they were 18. (In case you’re curious, the car’s owner, who was the one who originally drank the beer, was not cited in any way)

  1. A group of us were heading up to NYC in a friend’s van (no trunk, obviously). We brought a case of beer with us, and a few of us were riding in the back, drinking when we were stopped by the state police. We took the empties and crammed them in a hole in the door. This didn’t drop them outside, just inside the wall of the van door. We then took the half-case and covered it with blankets.

The cops searched the van, discovered the half-case, and told us an opened case had to be transported in the trunk. :rolleyes: When we pointed out that a van has no trunk, we were told that we’d have to leave the case on the side of the highway then. They were decent enough about it, however…after making sure the van was otherwise clean, they told us that they were leaving. Someone asked about what to do about the beer, and the cops reiterated that they were leaving now…<cough cough>. The cops left, the case went back in the van, and an enjoyable evening in the city was had by all.