Alcohol and drugs
You are carrying a bottle of wine that has already been opened. Where may it legally ride in your car?
- In the trunk, or in a place where passengers do not sit. Correct answer
- In the glove box, as long as it is closed.
- Anywhere in the car, as long as nobody drinks from it while driving.
Why
California's open-container law is strict. What the handbook requires is that any alcohol or cannabis you carry be sealed and unopened, and once a container is open it must go in the trunk or in a place where passengers do not sit. The glove box is specifically called out as illegal, even closed. And it is not only about the driver: nobody may drink alcohol, or smoke or eat a cannabis product, while driving or riding as a passenger, and the same container rules apply to cannabis. Passengers in a bus, taxi, camper or motorhome are exempt. Drivers under 21 face a tighter rule: no alcohol rides with them unless someone 21 or older is along, or unless they are working for an off-site liquor sales licensee, and a sealed container has to be full as well; an open one still belongs in the trunk.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition. The correct answer is In the trunk, or in a place where passengers do not sit.
The rule behind this one
California alcohol and drug rules for drivers goes through the whole topic, with the page of the California Driver's Handbook behind every rule.
More on alcohol and drugs
- A law enforcement officer suspects you of driving under the influence and asks you to take a breath, blood, or urine test. What happens if you refuse?
- How long does a DUI conviction stay on your California driver's record?
- You are 30 years old and not on DUI probation. You are driving your own car, which needs no commercial license and carries no passengers for hire. At what blood alcohol concentration (BAC) does it become illegal for you to drive?
- You are 40 years old and on DUI probation. At what blood alcohol concentration (BAC) does it become illegal for you to drive?