Question by Mrs. Maintenance: How far-reaching is the open container law for alcoholic beverages?
I take bi-weekly trips to the recycle yard. I bring in lots of stuff, including copper pipes, aluminum cans, a little bit of everything. I usually keep all the recycles in the trunk. However I wound up with quite a bit more than normal this time. My neighbor just gave me three big boxes of beer cans, and my trunk is already full, so the only place I have to put these beer cans is in the back seat. If I were to get pulled over between my home and the recycle yard, and it was obvious that I was not intoxicated, and on the way to the recycle yard, would/could I really get arrested for having the boxes of beer cans in the back seat? Do cops normally use common sense where that’s concerned…as in, there’s no way she drank 72 beers in her car, there’s nothing to arrest her for? Or would most cops just arrest me anyway for violating the open container law?
Best answer:
Answer by zero
i think cops have to take recycling into account. you should be OK.
Add your own answer in the comments!
#1 by mebe1042 on July 26, 2010 - 1:17 pm
>Do cops normally use common sense where that’s concerned<
Yes! we can tell the difference between someone who is drinking while driving and someone making a trip to the recycling center.
#2 by Dog Lover on July 26, 2010 - 1:49 pm
Of course not.
There is something called the “letter of the law” and the “spirit of the law”. The letter of the law says you will not have an open container of alcoholic beverage in your vehicle. The spirit of the is that you won’t have open containers that you are actively drinking out of. That is the point of this law. No drinking and driving.
You will not get any tickets for this and if some one did give you one you would 100 % win it in court. No judge would ever, ever find you guilty of havng a box of empty beer cans / bottles for delivery to the dump / recycle yard.
#3 by mikeysco on July 26, 2010 - 2:22 pm
You didn’t say what state you’re in, and open container laws could vary between states. Let’s take a look at California’s O/C law as an example:
23222. (a) No person shall have in his or her possession on his or her person, while driving a motor vehicle upon a highway or on lands, [...] any bottle, can, or other receptacle, containing any alcoholic beverage which has been opened, or a seal broken, or the contents of which have been partially removed.
So at least in California, you’re only breaking the law if you have a container that’s got alcohol in it and is open or has the seal broken, or one that has the contents partially removed.
In other words, an empty alcohol container is just a container, and there’s nothing illegal about it. That’s California’s law, and I can’t believe it would be that different in any other state – partially for the very reason you’re citing in your question