2014 Kentucky Revised Statutes CHAPTER 189 - TRAFFIC REGULATIONS -- VEHICLE EQUIPMENT AND STORAGE 189.530 Providing motor vehicle to person intoxicated or under influence of substance which may impair driving ability -- Possession of open alcoholic beverage container in a motor vehicle prohibited -- Exceptions -- Definitions -- Election of offenses to prosecute.
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189.530 Providing motor vehicle to person intoxicated or under influence of
substance which may impair driving ability -- Possession of open
alcoholic beverage container in a motor vehicle prohibited -- Exceptions
-- Definitions -- Election of offenses to prosecute.
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No person shall provide a motor vehicle to another to operate upon a highway,
knowing that the other person is in an intoxicated condition, or under the
influence of any substance which may impair one's driving ability.
A person is guilty of possession of an open alcoholic beverage container in a
motor vehicle, when he or she has in his or her possession an open alcoholic
beverage container in the passenger area of a motor vehicle located on a
public highway or on the right-of-way of a public highway. However, nothing in
this section shall prohibit the possession of an open alcoholic beverage
container by an individual who is strictly a passenger and not the driver, in the
passenger area of a motor vehicle maintained or used primarily for the
transportation of persons for compensation, such as buses, taxis, and
limousines, or in a recreational vehicle, motor home, or motor coach.
For purposes of this section, "alcoholic beverage" means:
(a) Beer, ale, porter, stout, and other similar fermented beverages including
sake or similar products of any name or description containing one-half of
one percent (0.5%) or more of alcohol by volume, brewed or produced
from malt, wholly or in part, or from any substitute therefor;
(b) Wine of not less than one-half of one percent (0.5%) of alcohol by
volume; or
(c) Distilled spirits which is that substance known as ethyl alcohol, ethanol, or
spirits of wine in any form including all dilutions and mixtures thereof from
whatever source or by whatever process produced.
For the purposes of this section, "open alcoholic beverage container" means
any bottle, can, or other receptacle that contains any amount of alcoholic
beverage, and:
(a) Is open or has a broken seal; or
(b) The contents of which are partially removed.
For the purposes of this section, "passenger area" means the area designed to
seat the driver and the passengers while the motor vehicle is in operation and
any area that is readily accessible to the driver or a passenger while in their
seating positions, including the glove compartment. Passenger area does not
include possession of an open alcoholic beverage container in a locked glove
compartment, or behind the last upright seat or in an area not normally
occupied by the driver or a passenger in a motor vehicle that is not equipped
with a trunk.
For the purpose of this section, "public highway" or "right-of-way of a public
highway" means the entire width between and immediately adjacent to the
boundary lines of every way publicly maintained when any part thereof is open
to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel.
No person shall, as a result of a single course of conduct, be tried for or
convicted of a violation of this section and a violation of KRS 222.202 or
525.100. The attorney for the Commonwealth shall elect under which statute to
proceed. A conviction, decision not to prosecute, or dismissal of charges under
any of these statutes shall operate as a bar to prosecution under any other of
these statutes for offenses arising out of the same course of conduct.
Effective:October 1, 2000
History: Amended 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 467, sec. 18, effective October 1, 2000. -Amended 1984 Ky. Acts ch. 165, sec. 19, effective July 13, 1984. -- Recodified
1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from Ky. Stat.
sec. 1376r-2.
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