Open Intoxication

An individual who is operating or a passenger in a vehicle cannot transport or possess alcoholic liquor in a container that is open or uncapped within the passenger area of a vehicle upon a highway or within the passenger area of a moving vehicle in any place that is open the general public, including areas designated for the parking of vehicles.

If it is the first offense for open intoxication/open container, an individual will be responsible for up to a $100 fine and no action will be taken against the individual’s driver’s license. If it is the second offense for open intoxication/open container, an individual will have their driver’s license suspended with restrictions placed upon the license to follow the suspension. If it is the third offense for open intoxication/open container, an individual will have their driver’s license suspended for a longer period of time with restrictions placed upon the license to follow the suspension

The crime of open intoxication can have some serious ramifications on one’s future. Here are two examples of an open intoxication. Example 1: A student is going to a University of Michigan football game and decides to have a beer with all of his friends. The student begins to walk down the street to the game with a beer in his hand. The student is stopped by a police officer and has committed the crime of open intoxication.

Example 2: A student is walking to a frat party on the university’s campus. While there the student had a water bottle filled with vodka. The student took the water bottle with him when he left the frat party and a police officer saw that the student was walking unsteadily and stopped the student. The student will be found to have committed the crime of open intoxication because of the vodka in the water bottle.