A favorite summer pastime for many is traveling throughout northern Michigan in motor homes being tourists. However, I was asked a very specific question as it relates the consumption of alcohol while sightseeing. Many people like to enjoy an alcoholic beverage, or two or more whole being “chauffeured” around by a friend or family member. The question is, “Is it legal to consume alcohol if you are a passenger in the RV not sitting in the front seat or being the driver?”

Under MCL 257.32a, a Motor Home is defined as, “a motor vehicle constructed or altered to provide living quarters, including permanently installed cooking and sleeping facilities, and is used for recreation, camping, or other noncommercial use.” This is pretty much the typical motor home, which also means there is direct access from the driver to the living quarters area.

MCL 257.624a discusses the transportation or possession of alcoholic liquor in open or uncapped containers. In 257.624A1, it states, “a person who is an operator or occupant shall not transport or possess alcoholic liquor in a container that is open or uncapped or upon which the seal is broken within the passenger area of a vehicle upon a highway, or within the passenger area of a moving vehicle in any place open to the general public or generally accessible to motor vehicles, including an area designated for the parking of vehicles, in this state.”

Under 257.624, section 5B it describes “Passenger area” to be, “the area designed to seat the operator and passengers of a motor vehicle while it is in operation and any area that is readily accessible to the operator or a passenger while in his or her seating position, including the glove compartment.”

Within this section, in simple terms it states you are not allowed to consume alcohol in a motor home as the container would have to be open, with a broken seal while in the passenger compartment area. The second part is that a motor home is a motor vehicle that is operating in a place open to the general public, the highway, which again falls under the above statute.

MCL 257.624 section 4 states, “This section does not apply to a passenger in a chartered vehicle authorized to operate by the state transportation department.”

Although, a person may transport or possess alcoholic liquor in a container that is open or uncapped or upon which the seal is broken within the passenger area of a vehicle upon a highway if the vehicle does not have a trunk or compartment separate from the passenger area, and the container is in a locked glove compartment, behind the last upright seat, or in an area not normally occupied by the operator or a passenger. Open intoxicants in a limousine are subject to special provisions.

Open alcohol may be transported in the passenger compartment, where separated from the driver, in a bus or limousine that is licensed with the Michigan Department of Transportation as a chartered vehicle. All-in-all, the consumption of alcohol in a motor home is against the law and should someone’s motor home be stopped for a violation and the passengers are found to be in possession of open alcohol, they can be cited with a misdemeanor.

Ashley Simpson is a Community Service Trooper for the MSP Alpena Post. If you have a question for Trooper Simpson, you can email her at asktroopersimpson@gmail.com or mail them to Ask A Trooper, Michigan State Police – Alpena Post, 3283 W. Washington Ave, Alpena, MI 49707.