Texas Open Container Law

Section 49.031 of the Texas Penal Code makes it an offense to knowingly possess an open container in the passenger area of a motor vehicle that is located on a public highway. The statute adds that this applies regardless of whether the vehicle is being operated or is stopped or parked. A moving car, a car waiting at a light and a car pulled onto the shoulder are all treated the same way.

The law also says that possessing one or more open containers in a single criminal episode is a single offense. Three open cans in the cup holders lead to one charge, not three. The number of containers changes nothing about the offense; their location in the passenger area is what matters.

The passenger area is the part of the vehicle designed for seating the driver and passengers. The statute carves out three places that are not part of it: a glove compartment or similar storage container that is locked, the trunk, and, in a vehicle without a trunk, the area behind the last upright seat.

The word locked matters. An unlocked glove box or an open center console is still part of the passenger area, so an opened bottle stored there is not protected. In a sedan the trunk is the simplest answer. In an SUV, pickup or hatchback without a trunk, the space behind the last row of upright seats serves the same purpose.

The offense is tied to a vehicle located on a public highway, and the statute defines that term widely. It covers the entire width between the boundary lines of a publicly maintained road, street or highway that is open to vehicle travel, including the right-of-way. A car parked on the shoulder of a county road is still on a public highway.

A vehicle sitting on private property, such as a home driveway, falls outside that definition. The safe reading is simple: anywhere on a public road, its shoulder or its right-of-way, the open container rule applies whether the engine is running or not.

An open container found in an at-fault driver's vehicle can become evidence in a collision claim, because it may point to drinking before or during the drive. It does not prove intoxication on its own, but it can support other evidence such as the officer's observations, test results and witness accounts.

Texas divides fault proportionately under Chapter 33 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, and evidence of drinking can weigh heavily in that analysis. If a crash with a driver who had been drinking is behind your question, the Cedar Park car accident guide explains how Texas handles fault and damages.