If the police find an alcoholic beverage container that has been opened in your vehicle in New Hampshire, you can be prosecuted for "Transporting Alcoholic Beverages", which is a violation level offense. A conviction for this can lead to the suspension of your right to drive. Below you will find the statute that prohibits transporting alcoholic beverages. If you have been charged with this type of violation feel free to call Attorney Mark Stevens at 1-603-893-0074 for a free consultation. Here is the law:
RSA 265-A:44 (2011)
265-A:44 Transporting Alcoholic Beverages.
I. The words "liquor" and "beverage" as used in this section shall have the same meanings as defined in RSA 175:1.
II. Except as provided in paragraph V, no driver shall transport, carry, possess, or have any liquor or beverage within the passenger area of any motor vehicle upon any way in this state except in the original container and with the seal unbroken. Securely capped partially filled containers of liquor or beverages shall be stored and transported in the trunk of the motor vehicle. If the motor vehicle does not have a trunk, such containers shall be stored and transported in that compartment or area of the vehicle which is the least accessible to the driver.
III. Except as provided in paragraph V, no passenger shall carry, possess, or have any liquor or beverage within any passenger area of any motor vehicle upon any way or in an area principally used for public parking in this state except in the original container and with the seal unbroken. Securely capped partially filled containers of liquor or beverages may be stored and transported in that compartment or area of the vehicle which is the least accessible to the driver.
IV. A person who violates this section shall be guilty of a violation and shall be subject to a fine of $150. In addition, a person who violates paragraph II of this section may have his or her drivers' license, if a resident, or driving privilege, if a nonresident, suspended 60 days for a first offense and up to one year for a second or subsequent offense.
V. This section shall not apply to persons transporting, carrying, possessing, or having any liquor or beverage in a chartered bus, in a taxi, or in a limousine for hire; provided, however, that the driver of any of said vehicles is prohibited from having any liquor or beverage in or about the driver's area.
VI. For the purposes of this section only:
(a) "Passenger area of any motor vehicle" shall not include any section of a motor vehicle which has been designed or modified for the overnight accommodation of persons or as living quarters.
(b) "Way" shall mean the entire width between the boundary lines of any public highway, street, avenue, road, alley, park, or parkway, or any private way laid out under authority of statute, or any such way provided and maintained by a public institution to which state funds are appropriated for public use or any such way which has been used for public travel for 20 years.
