Michigan Law: Is having a filled flask in your trunk illegal?

[ThaPerculator]

I was curious what the michgan open-intox law is, and if its illegal to transport a full flask if its in your trunk or cabin or whatever. Can anyone fill me in or point me to a site with the law written down?

 

[gistech1978]

i cant imagine why it would be illegal if its in your trunk.
if its under your seat or something, then that should be trouble.

 

[djNickb]

Im not 100% on this but I have a friend who is familiar with the laws (mainly due to his run ins with it) but he claims a lawyer told him that you can have alcohol in the vehicle as long is it is not in a container that advertises that it is alcohol. I.E. a passenger has a mix drink in a McDonalds cup type of thing. May also explain why you see so many people 'brown baggin' it in Detroit. But if you get pulled over and the driver blows then yer all fvcked. Dunno if this is legit or not just somethin I was told by a friend.

 

[PowerMacG5]

Originally posted by: djNickb

really?

 

[amnesiac]

Originally posted by: djNickb

Dude, for reals. You got a point there.

 

[Dufman]

due to the fact that the flash is out of arms reach, then it is legal. however, if you have a car with fold down back seats, and passengers in the back seat, it COULD be open container, becasue they have easy access to it.


EDIT: if you are 21+

 

[ThaPerculator]

Yeah, I don't see why it wouldn't be legal, but isn't it technicallt 'open'?? I've heard stuff about how they bust people for open intox if they are drunk on the street because 'their body is a container, and it contains alcohol'. I just don't wanna risk transporting stuff up to State, cuz I can't afford it if I get busted lol.

 

[Dufman]

Originally posted by: djNickb
Im not 100% on this but I have a friend who is familiar with the laws (mainly due to his run ins with it) but he claims a lawyer told him that you can have alcohol in the vehicle as long is it is not in a container that advertises that it is alcohol. I.E. a passenger has a mix drink in a McDonalds cup type of thing. May also explain why you see so many people 'brown baggin' it in Detroit. But if you get pulled over and the driver blows then yer all fvcked. Dunno if this is legit or not just somethin I was told by a friend.

so, you are saying that if i have a closed pitcher of beer on my lap, it isnt open container. it is. an like i said, it has to be out of arms reach. then you are golden

 

[gistech1978]

Originally posted by: ThaPerculator
Yeah, I don't see why it wouldn't be legal, but isn't it technicallt 'open'?? I've heard stuff about how they bust people for open intox if they are drunk on the street because 'their body is a container, and it contains alcohol'. I just don't wanna risk transporting stuff up to State, cuz I can't afford it if I get busted lol.

just obey the speed limits

 

[royaldank]

Originally posted by: gistech1978

Originally posted by: ThaPerculator
Yeah, I don't see why it wouldn't be legal, but isn't it technicallt 'open'?? I've heard stuff about how they bust people for open intox if they are drunk on the street because 'their body is a container, and it contains alcohol'. I just don't wanna risk transporting stuff up to State, cuz I can't afford it if I get busted lol.

just obey the speed limits

Yeah, how many times you been pulled over and had your car searched? I know you can't afford it, but the odds of it happening are very, very minimal.

 

[tcsenter]

Im not 100% on this but I have a friend who is familiar with the laws (mainly due to his run ins with it) but he claims a lawyer told him that you can have alcohol in the vehicle as long is it is not in a container that advertises that it is alcohol. I.E. a passenger has a mix drink in a McDonalds cup type of thing.

Err...umm...no.

You cannot transport in Michigan an open container of any type holding any kind of alcoholic beverage in a passenger vehicle that is readily accessible to any of the vehicle's occupants. The trunk would be okay, provided there is no 'pass-through' to the trunk space via the rear seat. In such a case, you could argue that the container was not readily available to or even known by any of the rear passengers, but you might be doing it in front of a judge.

The operator of the vehicle will get the citation, not the passengers, unless it is a minor who has the container, in which case the minor will be cited for possession and the operator will be cited for both transporting and contributing/furnishing alcohol to a minor.