Louisiana Open Container Law: Exceptions, Daiquiris, and Penalties

Louisiana’s open container law, found at Revised Statute 32:300, makes it illegal for a driver or any passenger to possess an open alcoholic beverage or to drink alcohol in the passenger area of a vehicle on a public road. A violation is punishable by a fine of up to $100 plus court costs, and it does not go on your driving record.¹

What Counts as an Open Container

A container is “open” if its seal has been broken or any of the contents have been removed. The amount left inside doesn’t matter. A cracked beer can, an uncorked bottle of wine, and a half-empty bottle of liquor all qualify. Twisting a cap back on or pushing a cork back in does not restore a container to legal status once the original seal is broken.¹

The rule covers any receptacle holding beer, wine of at least half a percent alcohol by volume, or distilled spirits.

Where in the Vehicle the Ban Applies

The law reaches any motor vehicle operated on a public highway or right-of-way, including cars, trucks, SUVs, and motorcycles. Both the driver and every passenger are covered.²

The restricted zone is the “passenger area,” which the statute defines as the seating area plus any space a seated person can reach without leaving their seat. An unlocked glove compartment counts. Anything a passenger could grab from a seated position is part of the passenger area.¹

How to Transport Open Alcohol Legally

The trunk is the safest place. An open container stored in the trunk is explicitly exempt.²

p>If your vehicle doesn’t have a trunk, two other places satisfy the statute:

A glove or utility compartment that actually locks, not just latches.
The area behind the last upright seat, as long as it isn’t normally occupied by or readily accessible to anyone in the vehicle.

Stashing an open bottle behind the rear seat of an SUV works. Setting it on the front floorboard does not.¹

The Frozen Daiquiri Rule

Louisiana’s drive-thru daiquiri culture runs on a specific carveout. A sealed frozen alcoholic beverage is not treated as an open container if three things are true at the same time: the lid is on, no straw is inserted through it, and none of the contents have been removed.¹

Peel the lid, push the straw in, or take a sip, and the drink becomes an open container in the eyes of the law. Keep the lid sealed and the straw in the bag until you’ve parked and stepped out.

Exceptions for Passengers

Drivers get no exceptions. Passengers do, in narrow circumstances laid out in the statute:²

Paid-fare passengers in common carriers, contract carriers, and public carrier vehicles, which covers commercial buses, shuttles, and similar for-hire transportation, including licensed taxis.
Passengers in a privately owned limousine, but only when the driver holds a Class D commercial driver’s license.
Passengers in a vehicle operated as a courtesy vehicle.
Passengers in a self-contained motor home that is longer than 21 feet. A smaller RV or a non-self-contained unit doesn’t qualify.
Passengers and krewe members riding on a parade float.
People whose employment requires them to carry open containers in a vehicle, though they can’t drink the alcohol themselves.

Rideshare Is Not Clearly Covered

Whether an Uber or Lyft rider fits under the paid-fare or courtesy vehicle language is a gray area the statute doesn’t directly address, since those categories were written with traditional carriers in mind. Rideshare companies resolve the question through their own policies. Lyft bans open containers in the car and warns that a violation can lead to deactivation.³

Go-Cups Don’t Follow You Into a Car

A New Orleans city ordinance lets you walk a public sidewalk with an alcoholic drink as long as it’s in a plastic container.⁴ That freedom stops at the curb. State law governs what happens inside any motor vehicle on a public road, and no local rule overrides it. Bringing a go-cup into a car puts the driver and the passenger holding it in violation of RS 32:300. Finish the drink or pour it out before you get in.²

Penalties and Your Record

The fine tops out at $100, plus court costs that vary by parish. The statute doesn’t build in escalating penalties for repeat offenses.¹

The violation stays off your driving record. The statute says it “shall not be included in the records kept by the commissioner,” so it doesn’t count as a moving violation, doesn’t add points to your license, and shouldn’t push up your insurance the way a speeding ticket would. The statute also prohibits taking a person into custody for an open container violation alone.²

Traffic Stops and What an Officer Can Do

A generic cup that doesn’t visibly contain alcohol is not, by itself, probable cause to stop and question someone. The statute requires “other circumstances” beyond the mere presence of an ambiguous container.²

Once a stop is already underway for another reason, a visible beer can or liquor bottle is fair game. And if the officer sees signs of impairment, the stop can shift from a $100 citation to a DWI investigation. On its own the ticket is minor, but paired with intoxication it becomes evidence in a much more serious case.

Commercial Drivers Have More at Stake

A CDL holder faces a lower blood alcohol threshold of 0.04 percent while operating a commercial vehicle, and alcohol-related offenses can trigger disqualification of the commercial license for at least one year on a first offense and a lifetime disqualification on a second. A standalone open container citation without impairment may not directly trigger CDL disqualification, but it creates a paper trail that compounds quickly if paired with any other alcohol-related issue.

1
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 32 RS 32-300 – Possession of Alcoholic Beverages in Motor Vehicles
2
Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 32-300 – Possession of Alcoholic Beverages in Motor Vehicles
3
Lyft Help. Zero-Tolerance Drug and Alcohol Policy
4
National Food & Beverage Foundation. The Open Container Law in New Orleans