Driving with Alcohol in the Car: What You Need to Know
If you are driving with alcohol in your car, even a newly purchased bottle, make sure you understand Oklahoma law on transporting open containers. The law prohibits not only drinking while driving a motor vehicle, but also transporting any container of alcohol that has been opened, even if you are not drinking from it.
Oklahoma’s open container law makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by a $500 fine and six months in jail, to “[k]nowingly transport in any vehicle upon a public highway, street or alley any alcoholic beverage except in the original container which shall not have been opened”. 37 O.S. § 537(A)(7); 37 O.S. § 566. The only exception: keep the opened container in the trunk or rear compartment. Id. Keeping the alcohol in any other outside compartment that is not accessible while you are driving the vehicle – such as side compartments on a truck – is acceptable as well.
In Oklahoma, you may take an opened bottle of wine home from a restaurant if you cork it, but again it must be kept in the trunk or rear compartment while you are operating the vehicle – which includes idling or having the keys in the ignition. Further, state law prohibits transporting more than one liter of alcohol from another state across the border into Oklahoma. 37 O.S. § 537(A)(4). Even a six-pack of beer transported into the state is too much to be in compliance with the law.
Cities in Oklahoma have similar rules about driving with open containers. For example, Tulsa fines open container offenders $200 and promises up to 90 days in jail for knowingly transporting or possessing opened alcoholic beverages on public highways and streets, unless the container is kept in the trunk or rear compartment. Tulsa Traffic Code, Title 37, § 657. In Tulsa, even very low alcohol beer cannot be opened during transport. The city imposes a $50 fine for transporting an opened “nonintoxicating beverage containing more than one-half of one percent (1/2 of one percent) alcohol by volume and not more than three and two-tenths percent (3.2 percent) alcohol by weight.” Tulsa Traffic Code, Title 37, § 658.
Generally, the law defines an intoxicating alcoholic beverage such as alcohol, beer, wine, and spirits in liquid or solid form as one that is more than 3.2 percent alcohol by weight. 37 O.S. § 163.1. Oklahoma also defines “low-point beer” as a beverage containing from 0.5% alcohol per volume and 3.2% alcohol by weight or less. Id. Note that new statewide laws go into effect in 2018 that change the intoxicating beverage sales scheme and alcohol licensing laws for retailers and make other significant changes to laws on alcohol in Oklahoma, including most of the statutes cited above.
If you are facing DUI charges, seek out an attorney who knows the Oklahoma criminal law system inside and out. Clint Patterson, Esq., of Patterson Law Firm, a former Tulsa prosecutor now using his trial experience and expert-level knowledge of DUI science to defend drivers, has the experience and the insight to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your case. To schedule a case evaluation, visit Patterson Law Firm online or call Clint’s office at (918) 550-9175.