Tennessee Open Container Law

This seems to be one of the most misunderstood laws in the State of Tennessee. I hear quite a few times a month, "hey that is an open container violation". Ok so what does that exactly mean? For the record I would say to anyone that might ask, it is just simply much easier to make sure you never have an open container in the vehicle, with that said, I will explain the actual law.

Open container in Tennessee means:

(1) No driver shall possess any alcoholic beverage or possess an open container of alcoholic beverage or beer while operating a motor vehicle in this state.

(2)Open container means any container containing alcoholic beverages or beer, the contents of which are immediately capable of being consumed or the seal of which has been broken.

(3)An open container is in the possession of the driver when it is not in the possession of any passenger and is not located in a closed glove compartment, trunk or non passenger area of the vehicle, and the a motor vehicle is in operation if it's engine is operating, whether or not the motor vehicle is moving.

The question I most get asked is this, "can a passenger in the car have an open beer in Tennessee? The answer is yes, but again I would never recommend this to anyone at anytime, it just causes way to many problems, but again it is not illegal in most places in Tennessee, at this time.

The second question is, "what if I have a broken seal on a bottle of bourbon or wine, and the bottle is next to me, I am not drinking any, just taking it home or to party?" My advice would be to put it in the trunk or lock it in glove box, because technically under the statute in Tennessee you have an open container if you are by yourself and have a broken seal of alcohol accessible to you in your vehicle.

With that said, you need to check with your local municipality or county, because under the statute 55-10-416, a city or county may have the right to pass an ordinance or resolution to prohibit passengers from having open containers, with that language in the statute it makes it an ever more confusing situation to most people.