May you have an open container of alcohol in the car, state by state?
Every state’s answer, and the District of Columbia’s, from its own manual or code: 41 have a rule on this, quoted below with where it is written; 10 say nothing on it.
Statutes fetched between 5 and 9 October 2026; manuals fetched between 6 September and 4 October 2026. How the answers are made
| State | The rule | Where it is written | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | (b) It is unlawful for a person to have in his or her possession alcoholic beverages in an open container in the passenger area of a motor vehicle of any kind on a public highway or right-of-way of a public highway of this state. | Alabama law, Ala. Code § 32-5A-330(b) | 6 Oct 2026 |
| Alaska | (a) A person may not drive a motor vehicle on a highway or vehicular way or area, when there is an open bottle, can, or other receptacle containing an alcoholic beverage in the passenger compartment of the vehicle, except as provided in (b) of this section. | Alaska law, AS 28.35.029(a) | 6 Oct 2026 |
| Arizona | It is illegal for a driver or passenger to drink from or have an open container of liquor in the passenger compartment of a vehicle on any public road. | Arizona Driver License Manual and Customer Service Guide, p.59 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| California | If you carry alcohol or cannabis in your vehicle the container must be sealed and unopened, and if it is open you must keep it in the trunk or a place where passengers do not sit. | California Driver’s Handbook, p.72 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| Colorado | It is unlawful to possess an open container of alcohol or an open container of marijuana in the passenger area of a motor vehicle on a public road. | Colorado Driver Handbook, p.3 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| Florida | (2)(a) It is unlawful and punishable as provided in this section for any person to possess an open container of an alcoholic beverage or consume an alcoholic beverage while operating a vehicle in the state or while a passenger in or on a vehicle being operated in the state. (b) It is unlawful and punishable as provided in this section for any person to possess an open container of an alcoholic beverage or consume an alcoholic beverage while seated in or on a motor vehicle that is parked or stopped within a road as defined in this section. Notwithstanding the prohibition contained in this section, passengers in vehicles designed, maintained, and used primarily for the transportation of persons for compensation and in motor homes are exempt. | Florida law, Fla. Stat. § 316.1936(2) | 7 Oct 2026 |
| Hawaii | In Hawaii, keeping an opened alcoholic beverage container where the driver or passengers sit is prohibited on any public road. | State of Hawaii Driver’s Manual, p.56 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| Idaho | Idaho's open container law prohibits both drivers and passengers from drinking or possessing an open beverage container of alcohol. | July 2026 Idaho Driver's Handbook, p.130 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| Illinois | It is illegal to have alcohol in the passenger area of a vehicle where the container has been opened. | Illinois Rules of the Road 2026, p.51 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| Indiana | (b) A person in a motor vehicle who, while the motor vehicle is in operation or while the motor vehicle is located on the right-of-way of a public highway, possesses a container: (1) that has been opened; (2) that has a broken seal; or (3) from which some of the contents have been removed; in the passenger compartment of the motor vehicle commits a Class C infraction. | Indiana law, Ind. Code § 9-30-15-3(b) | 7 Oct 2026 |
| Iowa | It is illegal for any driver or passenger to transport an open, unsealed container of alcohol in a motor vehicle; open containers may be carried in the trunk. | Iowa Driver's License Manual, p.37 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| Kansas | Transporting an open container of liquor or cereal malt beverage may suspend a Kansas driver's privileges. | Kansas Driving Handbook, p.14 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| Kentucky | (2) A person is guilty of possession of an open alcoholic beverage container in a motor vehicle, when he or she has in his or her possession an open alcoholic beverage container in the passenger area of a motor vehicle located on a public highway or on the right-of-way of a public highway. However, nothing in this section shall prohibit the possession of an open alcoholic beverage container by an individual who is strictly a passenger and not the driver, in the passenger area of a motor vehicle maintained or used primarily for the transportation of persons for compensation, such as buses, taxis, and limousines, or in a recreational vehicle, motor home, or motor coach. | Kentucky law, KRS 189.530(2) | 7 Oct 2026 |
| Louisiana | Louisiana's open container law bans both having an open alcoholic beverage container and drinking any alcohol in a vehicle. | Class D & E Driver's Guide, p.124 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| Maine | On a public way, the driver breaks the law if the driver or a passenger in the passenger area drinks alcohol or has an open alcohol container. | Maine Driver’s License Manual, p.35 | 4 Oct 2026 |
| Maryland | No one in a vehicle on a highway may have an open container holding any amount of alcohol in the passenger area. | Maryland law, Md. Code, Crim. Law § 10-125(a) | 5 Oct 2026 |
| Massachusetts | You may not have an open alcoholic drink inside your vehicle, even if someone else is holding it. | Massachusetts Driver's Manual, p.74 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| Michigan | Having an open alcohol container in the vehicle is a two-point violation. | What Every Driver Must Know, p.14 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| Minnesota | You must not drink or have an open container of any alcoholic beverage inside a motor vehicle on a public street or highway. | Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.94 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| Montana | Montana law prohibits anyone in a motor vehicle from possessing an open alcoholic beverage container, and a container holding any amount of alcohol counts. | Montana Driver Manual, p.72 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| Nebraska | In Nebraska it is unlawful to drink from or possess an open container of alcohol inside any vehicle on a public roadway or public parking area. | Nebraska Driver’s Manual, p.24 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| Nevada | Nevada's open container law makes it illegal to have opened alcoholic drinks in the driver or passenger areas while a vehicle is being driven, but not in motor home living quarters or the passenger areas of buses, limousines or taxis. | Nevada Driver Handbook, p.81 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| New Hampshire | II. Except as provided in paragraph V, no driver shall transport, carry, possess, or have any liquor or beverage within the passenger area of any motor vehicle or OHRV upon any way in this state except in the original container and with the seal unbroken. Securely capped partially filled containers of liquor or beverages shall be stored and transported in the trunk of the motor vehicle or OHRV. If the motor vehicle or OHRV does not have a trunk, such containers shall be stored and transported in that compartment or area of the vehicle or OHRV which is the least accessible to the driver. | New Hampshire law, N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 265-A:44(II) | 8 Oct 2026 |
| New Jersey | Carrying an open alcoholic beverage container or an unsealed cannabis item in the passenger area brings a $200 fine for a first offense. | New Jersey Driver Manual, p.129 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| New Mexico | B. No person shall knowingly have in the person's possession on the person's body, while in a motor vehicle upon any public highway within this state, any bottle, can or other receptacle containing any alcoholic beverage that has been opened or had its seal broken or the contents of which have been partially removed. | New Mexico law, NMSA 1978, § 66-8-138(B) | 8 Oct 2026 |
| New York | It is a traffic infraction for a driver or passenger in a motor vehicle on a public highway, street or road to drink a beverage containing alcohol or to possess an open container of an alcoholic beverage. | New York State Driver's Manual, p.57 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| North Carolina | DWI laws prohibit drivers from consuming any alcoholic beverage, including beer, while driving, and prohibit carrying an open container of alcohol in the passenger area of the car. | North Carolina Driver Handbook, p.31 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| North Dakota | You cannot legally have an open container in your vehicle; any open containers must be placed in the trunk. | North Dakota Noncommercial Driver License Manual, p.37 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| Ohio | (B) No person shall have in the person's possession an opened container of beer or intoxicating liquor in any of the following circumstances: (1) Except as provided in division (C)(1)(e) of this section, in an agency store; (2) Except as provided in division (C) or (J) of this section, on the premises of the holder of any permit issued by the division of liquor control; (3) In any other public place; (4) Except as provided in division (D) or (E) of this section, while operating or being a passenger in or on a motor vehicle on any street, highway, or other public or private property open to the public for purposes of vehicular travel or parking; (5) Except as provided in division (D) or (E) of this section, while being in or on a stationary motor vehicle on any street, highway, or other public or private property open to the public for purposes of vehicular travel or parking. | Ohio law, Ohio Rev. Code § 4301.62(B) | 8 Oct 2026 |
| Oregon | Oregon's open container law makes it illegal to have an open bottle or other container with alcohol in it while you are in a vehicle on any road; a container counts as open if its seal is broken, even if it has been reclosed, and any open containers should be in the trunk. | 2026-2027 Oregon Driver Manual, p.83 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| Pennsylvania | (a) General rule.--Except as set forth in subsection (b), an individual who is an operator or an occupant in a motor vehicle may not be in possession of an open alcoholic beverage container or consume a controlled substance as defined in the act of April 14, 1972 (P.L.233, No.64), known as The Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act, or an alcoholic beverage in a motor vehicle while the motor vehicle is located on a highway in this Commonwealth. | Pennsylvania law, 75 Pa.C.S. § 3809(a) | 8 Oct 2026 |
| Rhode Island | (a) No person shall operate a motor vehicle upon the public highways with any unsealed alcoholic beverage container within the passenger section of the vehicle. | Rhode Island law, R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-22-21.1(a) | 8 Oct 2026 |
| South Carolina | It is unlawful for a person to have in his possession, except in the trunk or luggage compartment, beer or wine in an open container in a motor vehicle of any kind while located upon the public highways or highway rights of way of this State. This section must not be construed to prohibit the transporting of beer or wine in a closed container, and this section does not apply to vehicles parked in legal parking places during functions such as sporting events where law enforcement officers are on duty to perform traffic control duties. A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days. For purposes of this section, beer or wine means any beer or wine containing one-half of one percent or more of alcohol by volume. | South Carolina law, S.C. Code Ann. § 61-4-110 | 8 Oct 2026 |
| Texas | It is illegal to possess an open container of alcohol in the passenger area of a motor vehicle on a public highway, whether the vehicle is being driven, stopped, or parked. | Texas Driver Handbook, p.56 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| Utah | (3) A person may not keep, carry, possess, transport, or allow another to keep, carry, possess, or transport in the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle, on a golf cart, on a motor assisted scooter, or on an electric assisted bicycle, when the vehicle is on any highway or waters of the state, any container that contains an alcoholic beverage if the container has been opened, the container's seal broken, or the contents of the container partially consumed. | Utah law, Utah Code § 41-6a-526(3) | 8 Oct 2026 |
| Vermont | (b) A person operating a motor vehicle on a public highway shall not possess any open container that contains an alcoholic beverage or cannabis in the passenger area of the motor vehicle. | Vermont law, 23 V.S.A. § 1134(b) | 8 Oct 2026 |
| Virginia | You may be charged with drinking while driving if you are stopped with an open container of alcohol in the passenger area, some of it gone, and you show signs of drinking. | Virginia Driver's Manual, p.30 | 6 Sep 2026 |
| Washington | Open alcohol and cannabis products may only be carried in a trunk or truck bed, and not in a storage compartment the driver can reach. | Washington State Driver Guide, p.39 | 14 Sep 2026 |
| West Virginia | (b) It is unlawful for the operator or a passenger of a motor vehicle to knowingly possess any open alcoholic beverage container in the passenger area of any motor vehicle that is located on a public highway or right-of-way of a public highway in this state, whether the vehicle is in motion or at rest. Possession by a person of one or more open containers in a single criminal occurrence is a single offense. | West Virginia law, W. Va. Code § 17C-5D-3(b) | 9 Oct 2026 |
| Wisconsin | (2) No person may possess on his or her person, in a privately owned motor vehicle upon a public highway, any bottle or receptacle containing alcohol beverages or nitrous oxide if the bottle or receptacle has been opened, the seal has been broken or the contents of the bottle or receptacle have been partially removed or released. | Wisconsin law, Wis. Stat. § 346.935(2) | 8 Oct 2026 |
| Wyoming | (b) No person shall consume, transport or possess any alcoholic beverage in a motor vehicle while the motor vehicle is in motion on a public street or public highway unless the beverage is: (i) In the original unopened package or container, the seal of which has not been broken and from which the original cap, cork or other means of closure has not been removed. Notwithstanding this section, a resealed bottle of wine may be transported as provided in W.S. 12-4-410(e); (ii) In the trunk or any other outside compartment of the vehicle that is not readily accessible to any person in the vehicle while the vehicle is in motion; (iii) In the unoccupied back of a pickup truck out of reach of the driver even though access is available through a window; | Wyoming law, Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 31-5-235(b) | 9 Oct 2026 |
Download this comparison as CSV
No rule found
No rule found in the manual or code of: Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee.
Monthly: what changed in state driving law. Get it by email
Ask a question across every state
The ask box answers “May you have an open container of alcohol in the car?” for every state at once when Nationwide is ticked: each state’s figure from its own manual or code, cited, and the states that say nothing named.