Open Container In Cart & Street Drinking
 

Hi Folks, I have a couple questions that you may be able to answer.

#1 Is it legal to sit in your golf cart with a alcoholic drink in your hand at Lake Sumter Landing while listening to the music?

#2 Is it legal to walk down Canal Street around the Too Jays area with a alcoholic beverage in hand that was purchased at the square?

I haven't officially retired and moved into The Villages yet and am trying to stay out of trouble. Thank You!:police::police:

You will have opened up a "can of worms" on this one...that being said there is a very lengthy, previous, thread on your first question on here. The answer would be "no!" to your 1st question...though there are some who will dispute that.

Don't know the legal answer to your 2nd question but I was raised with..."If you have to ask...probably shouldn't do it??"

Check this link out:

http://www.poa4us.org/bulletins_file...etin201201.pdf

Look at page one, Questions and Answers, starting at question #7.


My personal answers to your questions:

#1 I will pay the $116 if it ever happens then reassess the situation <grin>
#2 Should be no issue, but just in case try this "but officer, I just found this on the curb and was looking for a trash can"

Answer #1 - No, it is NOT legal to be sitting in your golf cart at Lake Sumter Landing while holding an alcoholic drink. Those are public streets.

Answer #2 - Yes, it is legal to walk around the Lake Sumter Landing area while holding an alcoholic drink.

I think it is legal to have an open container/drink on the imitate square and around the square, I am not sure if it is legal to have an open container/drink down Canal out by Toojays.

Got it right.
 

Hey AJ, Thanks to the link. --No open brewskies in the cart:police: and yes to walking down the street with a cold one.:wave::police: ---Billyworld

There is a distinction between a drink purchased at the square and one purchased at a restaurant near the square. I think the restaurants cannot allow you to take a drink off premises. I don't know of any restriction for a drink you bring with you as long as it is not opened while you are driving car or cart, nor while sitting in car or cart.

I'm pretty sure I remember seeing people in Spanish Springs getting there beers put in plastic cups so they could leave and watch the band on the square. I think it was at Gators.

U R right Pat_RI, Both SS, & LSL, have a carnival licence (at the square's only) for anyone walkin/drinking alcohol. U can drink siting in ur cart, BUT don't have ur key's in it.........Have a Great night at the Square:smiley:

The law is about open containers of an alcoholic drink. If you have an open can of beer in your cart, you can be cited while just sitting in the cart. Same way for a bottle of wine. If the bottle is sealed, it is fine. If the cork has been removed (even though it is replaced), it is still an open container.

Not true about being able to sip on your drink while in a car or cart if the keys are not in the ignition. Say it as much as you want but it is still going to be a citation. You can try and fight it in court but the police officer is still going to cite you.

I have seen restaurants in SS set up temporary bars at the entrance to their patio area (not in the buildings) and sell to people walking down the streets during events in the square.


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Rules
 

As I understand it the rules are:
1. You cannot have an open container while sitting in a golf cart. The rules
are the same as though you were on the side of a road and had an open container
2. You cannot take a drink out of one of the restaurants and walk around with it. The license to drink is with the establishment and the drink is to stay on their property.
3. If you buy a drink at one of the little booths around the square you can walk around with it as the area is identified as a "tourist" area and under Fl.
law you can carry the drink around the square. :mornincoffee:

Penn BF:

See my post above about restaurants selling booze to passersby.


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Ya think ? ? ?

Another case of misinformation talked about in another post.

Billyworld, maybe I could answer. Been to the squares about 1000 times,never seen police give a ticket for someone drinking in their cart.I have talked to police while sipping a beer in my cart. no problem. However seems no one will believe this. I do not know of anyone who has received a ticke or knows of someone. Seems people feel its alright in a chair a few feet away but not in a cart,even though same people are driving home in a cart. Cannot please everyone. There are a lot of anti-drinkers here.

Good questions, Billyworld. Answers not so good. So, pick the one that pleases you. Just kidding.

Florida's open container law is the final answer. Just because no one has seen a ticket issued does not mean it there will be none issued. This has been discussed here before as a result of a ticket issued. Police are supposed to enforce the law and they tend to do just that.

My advice, for what it is worth, do not allow an open container in your cart anywhere. If you buy a drink at one of the booths on a square, stay within the square. It may be OK to walk down Canal street with a drink but why risk it?

For others out there who seem to think the open container law is not to be enforced, keep right on disregarding it. Check back here and share your experience.

Yuppers paulandjean, been their done that, sip, sip... I don't even throw my beer can's in the trash. I put them back in my cooler, take em back home & crush-em for recycle......PoP-a-Top, Gulp, Gulp>>>:beer3: C-ya at the Square......

Here’s an interesting question:

Can you be cited for an open container while sitting in a parked cart on a multi-modal path.

According to the open container law, the vehicle must be on a road which is defined as any way that is open to the public. Since the paths in TV are private and have not been assigned to the sheriff for enforcement, it would appear that you could have an open container in this case.

Alcohol Usage
 

Chuckinca..At one of the POA meetings the Sheriff's deputy spoke on alcohol at the squares. He stated what I indicated in my note. As to the restaurants selling alcohol at the "patio entrance, not in the restaurant" may or may not qualify the same as the small booths selling? Of course the restaurants put their license's at risk if they are violating the law so I assume they have analyzed the law and are circumventing the portion regarding selling within the bar and then allowing to be taken out? Also, it is questionable as to who would be responsible the person carrying out or the restaurant. I am only guessing it would be the person carrying???:beer3:

Ya gotta cross a road sooner or later and I believe that even if your beer can is empty, it's still an open container.

SO with that logic, in states with deposit laws,bringing the empty cans back to the store for refund,you could be cited for open container. I beleive if can is empty then you have no case.I could have drank that can yesterday.

Yuppers Again, paulandjean:smiley: Hmmmmmm, I wonder when I go to the recycle center like I do with crushed cans or not crushed, (ie> Pop, energy drinks, beer cans etc) I can get a ticket before I get their???? WHAT a JOKE:laugh::laugh:

So, if designated driver such as wife is not drinking at all, is in the cart drivers seat, has the keys in the ignition at SS, and I'm in the passengers seat with an open beer that I bought in SS, I could, if the law was enforced, get a ticket. Is that right?

Yes
 

Doesn't matter if the keys are in the cart or not by law it's an open container in a motor vehicle on a public roadway. At the Polo Grounds you CAN sit in the cart with an open container because it's private property however if the cart is moving and you have an open container at the Polo Grounds you CAN be ticketed. I didn't make this up it was posted in a recent POA paper from a meeting with the Sheriff.

Here is Florida's open container law.


Flsenate Archive: Statutes & Constitution > View Statutes

Maybe this is the best way to explain that the police will not bother you in or around your golf cart with a can of suds. There is a golf cart even a few of them, that look like small trucks. They open up the back doors and its a bar. They pour mixed drinks just like at a bar. All the seals are broken on the booze,so the owner of that cart could be given a ticket everytime he is in the cart. I parked next to him at LSL and even seen cops looking and talking to him about what a special cart it is.Police will not bother unless you are a problem. Trust me.

Not taking chances
 

Hey All, Thanks for all your input on this subject. What started this all was one night I was sitting in my Streetrod with my best gal (wife) and two deputy's walked over to me and craned their necks to look into my cart. They were defenitely looking for something. My gal noticed this also and this is how this post got started. I think I will refrain from sitting with a open container. I think the solution is a big insulated cooler cup with a big dose of vodka and pink grapefruit juice. Thanks again and C-YA at the square!:beer3:

Bigger Problem
 

Why do people insist on sitting in a cart with an open alcohol beverage. What is more serious is that this is viewed by some as a problem in not allowing them to do it. Given that is their concern they have a greater problem than the container !! They may want to ask themselves why they think not being able to drink in a cart is a problem to them ?? Does "rehab" sound like an alternative? Or maybe better understanding why alcohol is so important to them??:gc:

Or you can look at it this way.Why would you want to sit on hard plastic chair,under the hot sun drinking a cold beer. Or you can sit in a nice comfortable golf cart padded seat and covered from the shade and drink a nice cold beer. Besides you do not have to go far for a refill,just reach around.

Boy Howdy.:shrug::popcorn:

Feel free to do that when at Lake Sumter Landing. You have been informed of the open container law in Florida. If you get a citation from a police officer, you can tell your story to the judge and see what his reaction will be.

The Court should find the college boy cops story amusing.

Simple, I just sit back & relax, (in my cart) PoP-a-beer & watch all the pretty woman walk by:beer3:

Am I missing something here.Is there something different from what they are doing know then from the last 5 years at LSL.Or is it just people talking about this. I again ask,have you seen someone who receved a ticket for this,or know of someone. I have asked many people and they know of no one. I stand by my statements.

Bottom line. Have at it.

I don't know anyone who's gotten a ticket, or anyone who knows anyone who's gotten a ticket.

But, the fact remains that because of the discussions on this forum we looked up the law as provided by the District Government website and the Property Owner's Association website to find out just what the laws were concerning alcohol consumption in the squares.

The information is being presented correctly. Law enforcement can give you a citation for an open container if you're sitting in a vehicle with it open. They can give this citation to you anywhere, including the town square. (even on your front lawn)

But you can walk around the square with an adult beverage anywhere in the downtown area.

Technically the restaurants cannot serve you adult beverages to be consumed outside their place of business.

What are the chances of you getting this ticket? Good question; and I don't know the answer to that one.

Bottom Line.Have at it.?????????

One of the renters who lives next to us got ticketed last week for sitting in their golf cart and drinking at LSL. He did not think he should have been ticketed because his beer was in a coozie and only the top inch or so of the can was exposed. He said the fine was about $120.

Go to the Property Owner Association paper of about 2 months ago and you will find the Q&A's and it states that a person was cited for sitting in their golf cart at Lake Sumter Landing having a beer and got cited for about $120.

It further goes on about what is and is not legal.

Booze @ lsl
 

We usually bring our own in a small cooler, and leave the cooler in our cart. Never had a problem walking around LSL or SS with an open beer.

Have been known to drive the golf cart with a Sonic cup held tightly in my hand just in case I hit a bump and spill some...........:confused: