Drinking a beer while driving?

[Jessica4Bama]

First off I want to say that I am not trying to start anything by asking this. It just happened to come up in a conversation with my co-worker at work yesterday. He drinks whereas I do not.

He was telling me something about him buying beer, and I don't know how it came up, but he said something about "if someone wants a cold one on their way home, I don't see anything wrong with that. One isn't going to affect them." I said well I wouldn't want to be driving beside someone who is drinking beer while driving. He said he didn't think it was a problem or something like that, and I said I did. He laughed, and that was the end of the conversation.

I know it is illegal to have an open container or be doing this while driving, but could you get arrested for DUI if you are not legally drunk but you were drinking while driving? Also, what is your view on this? It may not be a problem, but you never know what could happen on those roads even when one drink is involved.

Please don't be too harsh. I just wanted to see everyone's opinion on this matter .

 

[disneybama]

DUI is based on blood alcohol level. Open container laws are different. Even if the officer witnesses the driver drinking, the DUI will not be an option unless the blood alcohol level is above the proscribed threshold.

 

[RJ YellowHammer]

First off I want to say that I am not trying to start anything by asking this. It just happened to come up in a conversation with my co-worker at work yesterday. He drinks whereas I do not.

He was telling me something about him buying beer, and I don't know how it came up, but he said something about "if someone wants a cold one on their way home, I don't see anything wrong with that. One isn't going to affect them." I said well I wouldn't want to be driving beside someone who is drinking beer while driving. He said he didn't think it was a problem or something like that, and I said I did. He laughed, and that was the end of the conversation.

I know it is illegal to have an open container or be doing this while driving, but could you get arrested for DUI if you are not legally drunk but you were drinking while driving? Also, what is your view on this? It may not be a problem, but you never know what could happen on those roads even when one drink is involved.

Please don't be too harsh. I just wanted to see everyone's opinion on this matter .

If you're not over the legal limit and pass a field sobriety test, you wouldn't be charged with DUI, just violation of the open container law that almost all states have. It's universally stupid to have an open container of alcohol in the car.

 

[disneybama]

To add my opinion, I do not think that open container laws should exist.

 

[cbi1972]

First off I want to say that I am not trying to start anything by asking this. It just happened to come up in a conversation with my co-worker at work yesterday. He drinks whereas I do not.

He was telling me something about him buying beer, and I don't know how it came up, but he said something about "if someone wants a cold one on their way home, I don't see anything wrong with that. One isn't going to affect them." I said well I wouldn't want to be driving beside someone who is drinking beer while driving. He said he didn't think it was a problem or something like that, and I said I did. He laughed, and that was the end of the conversation.

I know it is illegal to have an open container or be doing this while driving, but could you get arrested for DUI if you are not legally drunk but you were drinking while driving? Also, what is your view on this? It may not be a problem, but you never know what could happen on those roads even when one drink is involved.

Please don't be too harsh. I just wanted to see everyone's opinion on this matter .

If you're drinking but not drunk, I would expect you get busted for having open container, and probably have to take a field sobriety test. Also, if you blow into a breathalyzer after drinking very recently, it will register high. If you're not drunk, though, you aren't guilty of DUI.

It's stupid to drink alcohol while driving, but I do not believe in zero tolerance attitudes, and the legal limit is silly low as it is.

 

[cbi1972]

To add my opinion, I do not think that open container laws should exist.

A few states agree with you, as do I.
I would not have expected Mississippi to lead the nation in this type of liberty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_open_container_laws

As of November, 2007, only one state (Mississippi) allows drivers to consume alcohol while driving (as long as the driver stays below the 0.08% blood alcohol content limit for drunk driving and many counties within the Mississippi have their own laws preventing open containers), and only eight states (Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia) allow passengers to consume alcohol while the vehicle is in motion. Still, local laws in these states may limit open containers in vehicles, although those local laws do not impact the state's compliance or noncompliance with TEA-21.

 

[Silverback]

To add my opinion, I do not think that open container laws should exist.

Seat Belt laws, Helmet laws, and others like them allow stupid people to survive and procreate.


Stupidity should be painful

 

[Silverback]

A few states agree with you, as do I.

Is it me or is D.C. a no container law color...

 

[disneybama]

Is it me or is D.C. a no container law color...

I think the blue box to the right represents DC

 

[RJ YellowHammer]

To add my opinion, I do not think that open container laws should exist.

You don't spend a lot of time on the road do you?

 

[Silverback]

I think the blue box to the right represents DC

Thank you...I sure am glad it wasn't a snake.

 

[cbi1972]

You don't spend a lot of time on the road do you?

Does a sober person with an open container pose a threat to you as a driver?

 

[RJ YellowHammer]

Does a sober person with an open container pose a threat to you as a driver?

No he or she doesn't.

But an open container law allows police officers to pull someone over if they observe them drinking a beer. When you combine the fact that someone having a drink right now is more likely to be intoxicated with the fact that 2 beers will put most people over the .08 BAC, open container laws are a good thing.

 

[disneybama]

No he or she doesn't.

But an open container law allows police officers to pull someone over if they observe them drinking a beer. When you combine the fact that someone having a drink right now is more likely to be intoxicated with the fact that 2 beers will put most people over the .08 BAC, open container laws are a good thing.

All that a police officer needs is probable cause to pull someone over. Seeing a person drinking a beer would be probable cause. So, they could pull them over, run a field sobriety test, then tell them to have a nice day if they are not over the legal limit.

No need for an open container law to accomplish this. No need to give a person a ticket for doing something that is no more dangerous than drinking a Pepsi.

 

[Tidefan7887]

When I clicked on this thread the ad's on both sides of the page was for a personal breathalyzer. It made me chuckle.:biggrin:

 

[cbi1972]

When I clicked on this thread the ad's on both sides of the page was for a personal breathalyzer. It made me chuckle.:biggrin:

Those things are popular for competitive drinking.

 

[RJ YellowHammer]

All that a police officer needs is probable cause to pull someone over. Seeing a person drinking a beer would be probable cause. So, they could pull them over, run a field sobriety test, then tell them to have a nice day if they are not over the legal limit.

No need for an open container law to accomplish this. No need to give a person a ticket for doing something that is no more dangerous than drinking a Pepsi.

So it isn't a problem that someone could be sober when the field sobriety test is issued but, after the drinks they've already had, legally intoxicated 2 minutes later? I don't think it's too much to ask that you wait to get to where you're going to have a drink - I do.

 

[disneybama]

So it isn't a problem that someone could be sober when the field sobriety test is issued but, after the drinks they've already had, legally intoxicated 2 minutes later?

I am sure that an officer who pulls someone over while drinking is within his rights to ask for a re-test in a few minutes. Heck, I was given 3 field tests when pulled over once. The cops simply would not believe that I had not been drinking. I was sleep deprived. They finally let me go when I offered to submit to a blood test if it made them feel better.

I don't think it's too much to ask that you wait to get to where you're going to have a drink - I do.

I do not drink while I am driving, but that is my choice. I do not believe in abortion, but I don't want to force that choice on others, either.

 

[RJ YellowHammer]

I do not drink while I am driving, but that is my choice. I do not believe in abortion, but I don't want to force that choice on others, either.

Abortion is a completely different issue. Abortion doesn't infringe on the immediate safety of others, drinking and driving while intoxicated does. "The right to swing my fist ends at the point of another person's nose" - Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. This is a topic where, in my view, the safety of others is more important than some individual rights.

 

[disneybama]

Abortion is a completely different issue. Abortion doesn't infringe on the immediate safety of others, drinking and driving while intoxicated does. "The right to swing my fist ends at the point of another person's nose" - Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. This is a topic where, in my view, the safety of others is more important than some individual rights.

Forgetting the fetus?