Code N.A. Cent. §39-08-18 1. A person may not drink or consume alcoholic beverages within the meaning of § 5-01-01 in or on a motor vehicle if the vehicle is located on a public highway or in an area mainly used for public parking. A person shall not possess a bottle or container of alcoholic beverages that has been opened or whose seal has been broken or whose contents have been partially removed. It is illegal for the owner of a private motor vehicle or the driver, if the owner is not present in or on the motor vehicle at that time, to store or allow him to be in a motor vehicle if the vehicle is located on the public highway or in an area mainly used for public parking, namely a bottle or container, which contain such alcoholic beverages that have been opened; the seal is broken or the contents of which have been partially removed, unless the bottle or container is kept in the trunk of the motor vehicle if the motor vehicle is equipped with a trunk or in another area of the vehicle that is not normally occupied by the driver or occupants if the motor vehicle is not equipped with a trunk. A supply or glove box shall be considered to be in the area occupied by the driver and passengers. This paragraph shall not prohibit the consumption or possession of alcoholic beverages in a house car if consumption or possession takes place in the area of the house car used as sleeping or living space and that area is separated from the driver`s cab by a fixed bulkhead, door, curtain or similar separation device; However, consumption is not allowed when the house car is in motion. A fee of $50 must be charged for each person who contravenes this subsection. However, the registration authority shall not record the offence in the person`s driving record unless the person was the driver of the motor vehicle at the time of the offence. 2. Paragraph 1 shall not apply to public transport contracted for group use on a commercial basis, to a passenger in return for compensation in a rental motor vehicle or to a private motor vehicle operated by a person in the exercise of his normal professional activity and carrying passengers on the instructions of the employer. This subdivision does not authorize the possession or consumption of an alcoholic beverage by the driver of a motor vehicle described in this subdivision on a public highway or in an area primarily used for public parking.
The main difference in the law depends on whether a state has a complete ban on alcohol in a vehicle in accordance with the federal guidelines listed below or a partial ban that would allow passengers to have containers open, but not drivers. In short, 40 states and the District of Columbia prohibit both the possession and consumption of open alcoholic beverage containers in a motor vehicle. §18B-401: Open containers. – It is illegal for a person to transport liquor wine or spirit drinks in the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle in an original unopened container of the manufacturer. It is illegal for a person driving a motor vehicle on a highway or public vehicle area to consume malt drinks or unfortified wine in the passenger compartment of that vehicle. §316.1936: It is illegal. for any person who possesses an open container of an alcoholic beverage or who consumes an alcoholic beverage while driving a vehicle in the State or while a passenger is travelling in or in a vehicle in the State. (b) It is illegal and punishable, as provided for in this section, for a person to possess an open container containing an alcoholic beverage or consume an alcoholic beverage while sitting in or on a motor vehicle parked or stopped on a road within the meaning of this section; So, what is an open container? An open container is a container of alcohol in which the seal is broken. It doesn`t really need to be open.
If the container has been opened, it is considered an open container, even if the lid is on it. Code of the Law of the Va. §4.1-309.1 Any person who possesses or consumes an alcoholic beverage while driving a school bus and transporting children is guilty of a Class 1 offence. For the purposes of this section, the term “school bus” has had the same meaning as in § 46.2-100. Goes. Code §4.1-312 The carriage of alcoholic beverages in motor vehicles used or authorized for the carriage of rental passengers is prohibited, unless they are carried in the possession of a passenger who is carried in exchange for compensation at the regular fare and charged to other passengers. Any person convicted of violating this section is guilty of a Class 1 offence. Code v. §18.2-323.1 A. It is illegal for any person to consume an alcoholic beverage while driving a motor vehicle on a public road in this Commonwealth. B. A rebuttable presumption that the driver has consumed an alcoholic beverage in violation of this section arises when (i) there is an open container in the passenger compartment of the motor vehicle, (ii) the alcoholic beverage in the open container has been at least partially removed, and (iii) the appearance, behaviour, smell of alcohol, language or other physical characteristics of the driver of the motor vehicle may reasonably be related to the consumption of a beverage.
Alcoholic. The drink can be associated. For the purposes of this Section, “open container” means any container containing an alcoholic beverage, with the exception of the manufacturer`s initially sealed container. “passenger area” means the area where the driver of a motor vehicle can sit, any area within the driver`s reach, including an unlocked glove compartment, and the passenger accommodation area. This term does not include the trunk of a passenger car, the area behind the last right seat of a passenger car, station wagons, sedans, sport utility vehicles or similar vehicles, the living quarters of a motorhome or the passenger area of a motor vehicle intended, maintained or used primarily for the carriage of persons in exchange for compensation; including a bus, taxi or limousine, during the transport of these people. C. Violation of this Section is punishable as a Class 4 offence. §189.530: A person is guilty of possession of an open container of alcoholic beverages in a motor vehicle if he or she has an open container of alcoholic beverages in the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle on a public highway or on the right-of-way of a public highway. Mont. Code Ann. §16-2-107 Open containers in the agency company Vt.