A 3-minute lesson from the Washington course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
The open container law applies to everyone in the car, not just the driver. Separately, young drivers who pick up alcohol, drug, or firearm offenses can have their license delayed and must start testing over.
Open container law: it's a traffic infraction if anyone in a vehicle on the road:
Drinks alcohol or consumes cannabis
Has alcohol containers or cannabis products that are opened, have a broken seal, or are partly consumed
Hides alcohol or cannabis in unlabeled or mislabeled containers
When you're eligible to get your license back, you must take the knowledge and skills exams again, even if you passed them before, and pay a reissue fee on top of the usual fees.
Your passenger has a half-finished bottle of wine at their feet on the way home from a dinner party. That's an infraction for someone in the vehicle. Put it in the trunk (or truck bed) before you drive.
Check your understanding
Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.
Where can you legally transport an open container of alcohol in your vehicle?
In a cup holder, capped
Anywhere the driver can't reach it while seated
In the trunk or truck bed only
In the glove compartment
Answer: In the trunk or truck bed only
Open alcohol and cannabis products can only be transported in a trunk or truck bed.