Forum Discussion

skiatom's avatar
skiatom
Explorer
Dec 13, 2019

Open container laws?

Recently, a friend of my son purchased a class A RV. His question, to which I am not sure of, is this: Can passengers consume alcoholic beverages while going down the road in a motor home? I know it probably varies from state to state. We are in Oklahoma.

29 Replies

  • The window in the driver's compartment of my Class A is over 6' off of the ground so it is a little difficult for anyone to see what someone in the passenger seat is drinking. In addition if you cannot put the container in the trash by the time you talk with someone on the OUTSIDE of your RV, then you are not thinking straight. Unless you invite them in, an officer does not have probable cause to come in to your RV. Just use some common sense and don't even think about drinking while you are behind the wheel.
  • I asked this question from a friend who is a police officer when we bought our first MH about a decade ago - this was in MD. His response; "provided it's within the "house" section of the MH and not within reach of the driver, it's legal". MH's are completely different than passenger vehicles as there is a house attached.

    My wife often has a beer with lunch going down the road. She's usually at the dinette however and not in the passenger seat.
  • Why chance it anywhere? Save the drinking for all to when you are parked for the night.
  • Read here.

    Here's one from Iowa

    Indiana

    Indiana and Iowa are pretty much the same. I don't have time to search every state, but do a Google Search on... for example... Oklahoma Open Container Law. and you'll have your answer:


    Exceptions
    Certain vehicles. Passengers can lawfully possess an open container of alcohol in the:

    passenger compartment of a motor vehicle that’s used primarily for the transportation of persons for compensation (like a limousine or taxi), and
    living area of a “house coach or house trailer.”
    However, the driver of such a vehicle is still prohibited from possessing open containers of alcohol.

    Oklahoma
    but it looks like there is no "exception" in Oklahoma for RV's. It' snot mentioned, so in this case, I would assume an RV fall into the same category as an automobile.

    Best advise I could give you, keep the alcohol "bottled up" until you reach your destination.
  • skiatom wrote:
    But you have limo drivers hauling drinking passengers around!

    They are licensed accordingly, and a lot of limos I have seen have a dividing partition from the drivers area to the back.
  • I suspect the same laws that pertain to auto’s pertain to Motorhomes regarding consumption. Having an open liquor bottle in the cupboard or fridge should be fine as you have to put it somewhere. And while many ignore the law, if the seat you’re sitting in has a seatbelt, you need to be using it. If it doesn't, you can’t.
  • But you have limo drivers hauling drinking passengers around!
  • I think you will find virtually everywhere that the rules are the same.
    No open liquor in a vehicle. It's not who is drinking it, but the fact of having an open bottle in the vehicle.