open alcohol in car?? legal?

[jas98]

hey probs been asked a dew times but yeh

im on me green P's in QLD and was wondering if im allowed to have passengers in me car with open alcohol? like them drinking and me not?

i was pulled up the other day for an illgal turn:P and the officer didnt worry bout the open alcohole that me passenger was drinking it but i wanna make sure as she was a nice cop but there are some **** cops out there:P

[f1tzy]

As far as i remember no its not legal

[greenfoam]

My friend who is a cop told me once that your car is your own space and you can drink inside it even in a non drinking area of town. That was a few years ago however

[naf33n]

i pretty sure its one of those laws that are never enforced, my mates and i always drink in the car(except the driver) and have never had a problem, one time i was getting breath tested and my mate asked if he could have a go, he drank some rum right in front of the cop and blew, the cop only said if it was a true reading he should be dead. nothing about drinking in the car

[minux]

You are allowed to have open alcohol.

You are even allowed to DRINK IT while driving, obviously the initial breatho reading will read higher but nothing stopping you from doing so.

This is for Vic only sorry.

[mulligan-can]

Queensland you are NOT allowed to have open alcohol in a vehicle as roads/parks/etc are considered a public space and therefore you are "Drinking in Public".

[minux]

Queensland you are NOT allowed to have open alcohol in a vehicle as roads/parks/etc are considered a public space and therefore you are "Drinking in Public".

Got a link to the specific laws stating this or a scanned page?

Reading through certain QLD laws there is nothing I can find stating it cannot happen.

[jatsvl]

in W.A. it is illegal
not sure about other states.

[minux]

in W.A. it is illegal
not sure about other states.

Again, do you have proof of this or are you just saying it?

I am looking at 3 different guides and there is no mention of it anywhere.

I like to know because quite often when im interstate for work i stop at a bottle o and get 2 travellers

[trentvy]

quite often when im interstate for work i stop at a bottle o and get 2 travellers

good form

[Rufus®]

Whilst you cannot drink whilst driving, there is no mention of not being able to have open alcohol in the car.

TRANSPORT OPERATIONS (ROAD USE MANAGEMENT--ROAD RULES) REGULATION 1999 - SECT 300A 300A Drinking liquor while driving

TRANSPORT OPERATIONS (ROAD USE MANAGEMENT--ROAD RULES) REGULATION 1999 - SECT 300A
300A Drinking liquor while driving

The driver of a vehicle must not drink liquor while driving the vehicle.

Maximum penalty--20 penalty units.

Edit: I also thought it was illegal to drink, and have an open container of alcohol with in reach, while driving in vic, but haven't read an legalities on it. Very interesting topic, even if stupid.

[minux]

Whilst you cannot drink whilst driving, there is no mention of not being able to have open alcohol in the car.

TRANSPORT OPERATIONS (ROAD USE MANAGEMENT--ROAD RULES) REGULATION 1999 - SECT 300A 300A Drinking liquor while driving



Edit: I also thought it was illegal to drink, and have an open container of alcohol with in reach, while driving in vic, but haven't read an legalities on it. Very interesting topic, even if stupid.

Was actually told by Viccop that it is perfectly legal to open alcohol and be drinking it while driving. Makes sense really. Legal limit is .05, so if you can drink a coke while driving you can drink a beer.

[gopher]

why wouldn't Qld ban open alcohol in cars?

they ban it in whole communities up here

[Zeussy]

I dont have any written laws supporting this, but one random breath test, many moons ago....
Got pulled over, officer says "there's a strong smell of alcohol coming from your vehicle sir"
I say "Yeah because he's drinking" pointing to my mate sitting next to me,
He replies "do you know it is an offence to be drinking alcohol whist driving a motor vehicle?"
I say "Im not, he's drinking not me.."
He replies "it doesnt matter, its an offence to have an open bottle of alcohol in your car whilst driving"

I thought it was bullshit at the time, he let us off with a warning cause I turned up a nil reading on the test, but the cop looked like he was going to take the bottle so my mate skulled it in front of him, then went to hand him the empty, haha he left us in peace.. we drove off my mate cracked another...

But quite a few times i've had people drinking in my car without a worry, so im unsure on the technicalities on that one...

[mulligan-can]

Got a link to the specific laws stating this or a scanned page?

Reading through certain QLD laws there is nothing I can find stating it cannot happen.

No afraid not, I had the same question as the OP once and went into a police station and talked to one of the liaison officers or something like that.

Their opinion was that a car in a public place IS the same as a public place when it comes to drinking alcoholic beverages.

Umm, here is the relevant part of the email he forwarded me so that I had a "written" copy.

Alcohol and liquor are synonymous in this response.

It is not an offence to possess an open container of alcohol in a vehicle whilst travelling on the road. However it is an offence to consume alcohol whilst in any public place including in a vehicle on a road If you are a passenger and were intercepted in a vehicle in possession of an opened container of alcohol you could be fined if it was proven that you had consumed the liquor or if you were observed by the police or the public to be consuming the liquor. If you are the driver of the vehicle then additionally to the fine mentioned above, it is a further offence for the driver of a vehicle to consume liquor whilst driving. This is not to be confused with being over the drink driving limit which are separate offences again.

The above relates to being in possession of alcohol on a road. If you travel to one of the many National Parks in the State it could be an offence just to have possession of an open container of alcohol in a vehicle whilst in the National Park area.

There are also new laws in Queensland which prohibit any form of alcohol (whether opened or not) being transported into any area the subject of Alcohol Management Plans. This includes a large area of the Cape Region.

Hope that helps.

P.S. Re-Reading that I clearly mis-spoke. You can have an "open" container of alcohol, you just can't drink it. Fair enough. Most cops in my experience will book you for walking in public with an open tinny even if your not actively drinking it however.

[mulligan-can]

Was actually told by Viccop that it is perfectly legal to open alcohol and be drinking it while driving. Makes sense really. Legal limit is .05, so if you can drink a coke while driving you can drink a beer.

On that one, in QLD at least, it can technically be an offence to even drink a can of coke while driving, something to do with "obstructing the drivers vision/distracting them".

I don't have a written response to that effect however, just a verbal answer from a liaison officer.

It's a fair technicality though so you'd have to get a cop on a really bad day to get stung with it apparently.

Disclaimer: I do NOT have written evidence to back this one up.

[MikesCalais]

one time i was getting breath tested and my mate asked if he could have a go, he drank some rum right in front of the cop and blew, the cop only said if it was a true reading he should be dead.

i was stopped at a booze bus one night and i was taking my friend back to her car which was in the next suburb from her house, and she asked the officer if they could test her becuase she thought she might have to drive her car back to her place and the police officer said they cant because if it comes back as over the limit they have to record it or something like that and because she wasnt driving they couldnt

as for 'open containers' im pretty sure its not illegal, ive never been pulled up on it, and it doesnt sound like anyone else has. but if you ever go over to america, its illegal there

[1vngal]

i pretty sure its one of those laws that are never enforced, my mates and i always drink in the car(except the driver) and have never had a problem, one time i was getting breath tested and my mate asked if he could have a go, he drank some rum right in front of the cop and blew, the cop only said if it was a true reading he should be dead. nothing about drinking in the car

i was stopped at a booze bus one night and i was taking my friend back to her car which was in the next suburb from her house, and she asked the officer if they could test her becuase she thought she might have to drive her car back to her place and the police officer said they cant because if it comes back as over the limit they have to record it or something like that and because she wasnt driving they couldnt

You're right, they can't just test everyone for giggle. It's all logged and if theres a shitload of readings from drunk ppl in the street coz they think it's funny, then there would be a BIG 'Please explain' as to why these ppl were "let off" so to speak. There'd some big rockets up the coppers arse if this were the case. lol

[stocky]

I like to know because quite often when im interstate for work i stop at a bottle o and get 2 travellers

in vic my boss at the bottle shop would always grab a "traveller" for the trip home, so i assumed its ok to drink while driving as long as youre not over the limit. although his idea of a traveller was a 500ml 9% beer

[Troy711]

You are allowed to have open alcohol.

You are even allowed to DRINK IT while driving, obviously the initial breatho reading will read higher but nothing stopping you from doing so.

This is for Vic only sorry.

NSW is different. My dad got a fine (not even 6 months ago) for 'drinking alcohol while driving' despite the fact he didn't blow over (it was 1 light beer and his first for the day before anyone gets on their high horse).

[Troy711]

I like to know because quite often when im interstate for work i stop at a bottle o and get 2 travellers

A guy I know through work used to stop off EVERY afternoon and grab a 6 pack of MBs. He would have one stubby finished by the time he pulled out of the car park, one by the time he was at the end of the street (about 800 meters away) and another finished by the time he got home (another Km).

[naf33n]

You're right, they can't just test everyone for giggle. It's all logged and if theres a shitload of readings from drunk ppl in the street coz they think it's funny, then there would be a BIG 'Please explain' as to why these ppl were "let off" so to speak. There'd some big rockets up the coppers arse if this were the case. lol

well it happened, this was about 5 years ago, maybe i just got an awesome cop that was having a good night.

[VPplayer]

Once me and my mate went for a drive, i was drinking a bottle of vodka.
The cops pulled us over, the first thing they saw was the bottle.
They asked whos it was i said mine and they didnt do anything.
This was in Vic

[tommo82]

deleted my post, will probably start a shitfight among the pissheads

[System]

You're right, they can't just test everyone for giggle. It's all logged and if theres a shitload of readings from drunk ppl in the street coz they think it's funny, then there would be a BIG 'Please explain' as to why these ppl were "let off" so to speak. There'd some big rockets up the coppers arse if this were the case. lol

theres a joint in hindley street where theres a coin operated bretho station- you get a clean straw poke it in the hole and breathe in, it gives you a perfect reading, always a good laugh while on the turps