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is it illegal to drink alcohol in a car in california?

HappyDude20

HappyDude20

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jul 13, 2008
3,688
1,479
Los Angeles, Ca
The weirdest thing happened last night. I go to my friends house prepared to go out to the midnight showing of jackass 3d. Upon arriving before getting up to the door I noticed 3 friends are sitting in one car parked in the street and they are all holding a beer.

I'm wondering why they're drinking in car.

I could swear this is illegal.

The driver replies for me not to worry considering the keys are not in the ignition. I think barring him from any cop being able to bust him.

He later says that at worst a cop would give him a ticket and perhaps a misdemeanor but only him cause he is in the drivers seat while the two others were ...one in the front passenger seat and the other in the back...saying they would be fine.

I kinda want some proof or something to show him of his odd thoughts concerning drinking driving state laws.




......

To which he replied: dude, we;ve hotboxed this car a million times..why you worried about alcohol?





Kinda wanna punch him in the face.
 
I don't drink so I haven't paid too much attention to those laws, but I'm pretty sure just having an open container of alcohol in the car even if you don't drink it is illegal in CA. The driver is just an idiot that realizes a cop is not likely to come around and catch him.
 
well legally speaking he was right.

You can drink in a car providing either
1.) no one in the driver seat
2.) no keys in ignition.

If either one of the above is true then it is not consider drinking while driving.

Now 2.) is going to need to be clarified with so many cars getting push to start with those wireless keys. Because as soon as the key is in the car it is consider in the ignition and as such anyone is in the driver seat and there is an open container in the car it is against the law.

As for drinking while sitting in a parked car with friends it pretty much a place to sit. Now something I would do honestly.
 
Rodimus Prime said:
well legally speaking he was right.

You can drink in a car providing either
1.) no one in the driver seat
2.) no keys in ignition.

If either one of the above is true then it is not consider drinking while driving.

Now 2.) is going to need to be clarified with so many cars getting push to start with those wireless keys. Because as soon as the key is in the car it is consider in the ignition and as such anyone is in the driver seat and there is an open container in the car it is against the law.

As for drinking while sitting in a parked car with friends it pretty much a place to sit. Now something I would do honestly.
Click to expand...

I could have sworn you can potentially get a DUI charge if a cop observes you geting into your car while intoxicated
 
If your drunk in CA and you just want to sleep in your car make sure you DO NOT PUT YOUR KEYS IN THE IGNITION!

If a cop see's the keys in the ignition your busted, even if your just listening to the radio or turning the heater on.
 
Loves2spoon said:
If your drunk in CA and you just want to sleep in your car make sure you DO NOT PUT YOUR KEYS IN THE IGNITION!

If a cop see's the keys in the ignition your busted, even if your just listening to the radio or turning the heater on.
Click to expand...

Well you can just make sure your ass is not in the drivers seat when you do it.
 
thanks for the responses ppl.

I just don't know.

Like...

I have no qualms about getting high in a car, but holding alcohol in the car I feel like it shouldn't happen...at least, for the cops benefit.

:rolleyes:
 
HappyDude20 said:
thanks for the responses ppl.

I just don't know.

Like...

I have no qualms about getting high in a car, but holding alcohol in the car I feel like it shouldn't happen...at least, for the cops benefit.

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Look at it this way, it's just a place to sit. With no keys in the ignition and no intent to drive, I don't see an issue sitting in a car while having a cold one.
 
Darth.Titan said:
Look at it this way, it's just a place to sit. With no keys in the ignition and no intent to drive, I don't see an issue sitting in a car while having a cold one.
Click to expand...

Ohhh...so check it out...I was hanging at ,y girls place when in decided to leave. I called a buddy up and we needed up drinking in his car. We finished a whole bottle of Makers Mark in his car.

I guess I can see if right now but am sure right now in the morning tomorrownillnwake like, "WTF............".


It was fun...and being 22 Nd not 32 feel like it may be pay but as drunk as I am right now stillmfeelmit be to a bit wrong. P









Iono. morrow is gonna suck at work. I got aso much much **** due and not even close to done and a, ready to sleep.goooood night macrumors ?. I'm glad you're not work.




I'm mDdrunk.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; fr-fr) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

In Québec you can't drink in a car as long as it is on a public road. Even if you don'g have the keys or if you are sitting on the back seat. It might be the same in Cali.
 
in CA, you cannot have an open container in the cabin of the car, whether you're driving or not. although, this is not consider dui, you will receive a citation if caught.
 
I know a guy who was convicted of DUI because he left the bar, wasted, and sat in the passenger seat of his car. Having the keys on him was reasonable cause to believe that he intended to drive the car while drunk. This is based in part on the observation that alcohol impairs judgement and encourages us to do stupid things.
 
This thread is awesome. It begins with OP wondering why people would be drinking in a car, and whether it is illegal. Then peaks about six hours later with OP rambling, drunk as **** from sipping makers in a car!

I hope nobody drove away from that outcome but it's still funny as hell.
 
Disc Golfer said:
This thread is awesome. It begins with OP wondering why people would be drinking in a car, and whether it is illegal. Then peaks about six hours later with OP rambling, drunk as **** from sipping makers in a car!

I hope nobody drove away from that outcome but it's still funny as hell.
Click to expand...

This day is gonna be either awesome or suck.

I have work in about an hour.

-

Last night I met up w/ a friend as mentioned, drank quite a bit and then he drove to Jack in the Box (he wasn't too wasted) and bought a bunch of food. I honestly didn't think the night would end up like that.

I'd end this post with a quick one liner about not drinking but this bathroom light is too bright for my taste.






arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhq!
 
HappyDude20 said:
This day is gonna be either awesome or suck.

I have work in about an hour.

-

Last night I met up w/ a friend as mentioned, drank quite a bit and then he drove to Jack in the Box (he wasn't too wasted) and bought a bunch of food. I honestly didn't think the night would end up like that.

I'd end this post with a quick one liner about not drinking but this bathroom light is too bright for my taste.






arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhq!
Click to expand...

He wasn't too wasted eh, after sharing a bottle? Legally drunk for sure. Nice.
 
And remember this varies from state to state. In Missouri, for instance, they have a no open containers law.
 
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