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  1. #1
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    Jun 2016
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    Default Open Container in an Uber

    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Georgia.

    Hey guys. Received an open container charge (40-6-253) in Georgia. However, I'm wondering if I could possibly get out of the charge because I was riding in an Uber at the time. The actual law reads:

    (2) The provisions of paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not apply to any passenger in the passenger area of a motor vehicle designed, maintained, or used primarily for the transportation of persons for compensation or in the living quarters of a motor home or house trailer.

    I was wondering if this section of the law would apply to Uber...

    If so, I already have the receipt, and it shows that I was indeed in the Uber at the time I received the ticket. What would I need to do in order to get this charge removed? Is bringing the receipt from that night enough?

    Thanks for your help!

  2. #2
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    Mar 2013
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    Default Re: Open Container in an Uber

    I ran a search for the statute number combined with Uber and came up with nothing. My guess is that Uber is too recent a phenomenon to have reached the appellate level for your type of case.

    All you can do is plead not guilty and present your receipt and assert that you were a "passenger in the passenger area of a motor vehicle designed, maintained, or used primarily for the transportation of persons for compensation."

    I have no idea how your local judge might view it but, personally, I have a problem with the word "primarily" because a person using his regular family car for ride sharing like Uber is not "primarily" in the public livery business like a taxi or limo service.

    If the word "primarily" was not in there, you would only have to show that, at that moment, the vehicle was "used for the transportation of persons for compensation."

    Because of the word "primarily" I think you would have to get your driver into court to prove that his Uber activity was his primary source of income and he used his car that way all day, every day.

    Please come back to this thread with the results of your trial.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Open Container in an Uber

    Quote Quoting chasew193
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    (2) The provisions of paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not apply to any passenger in the passenger area of a motor vehicle designed, maintained, or used primarily for the transportation of persons for compensation or in the living quarters of a motor home or house trailer.
    An Uber vehicle is going to be an ordinary passenger vehicle, so the only applicable exception might be that the motor vehicle is "used primarily for the transportation of persons for compensation". Were this a regular, metered taxicab, I think you would have a very strong argument. Howecer, as Uber drivers often provide services on a part-time basis, it seems to me that merely proving that you were paying a fair to an Uber driver would not be enough, and that to prove the exception you would need testimony from the Uber driver that would support your claim that the vehicle at issue was used primarily to carry passengers for pay.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
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    Default Re: Open Container in an Uber

    Since uber and lyft have worked so hard to avoid being considered a taxi service I suspect you may be SOL. The vehicle you were in is a private entities everyday grocery getter car so I suspect a court will view it as such. The law was intended to remove a taxi or limo service from falling under the law. Uber and lyft have worked hard to avoid that label.

  5. #5
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    Mar 2013
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    Default Re: Open Container in an Uber

    Quote Quoting jk
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    Since uber and lyft have worked so hard to avoid being considered a taxi service I suspect you may be SOL. The vehicle you were in is a private entities everyday grocery getter car so I suspect a court will view it as such. The law was intended to remove a taxi or limo service from falling under the law. Uber and lyft have worked hard to avoid that label.
    Except that Georgia passed two new laws regulating the Uber and Lyft type businesses.

    http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/...0152016/HB/225

    http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/...0152016/HB/190

    OP might not be so SOL after all.

    OP might only need to show that his driver had the proper license amendment and insurance as required by the new laws.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Open Container in an Uber

    The first provision relates to the licensing of drivers for hire, and the second relates to insurance requirements. Those are issues that states should address in relation to Uber drivers, but I don't see how either would establish a presumption that an Uber driver's vehicle is "used primarily for the transportation of persons for compensation". For now, if you want to drink while somebody else drives, it seems best to summon a taxi or limo service.

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Open Container in an Uber

    Of course, it wouldn't "establish a presumption" but it could be persuasive along with other evidence and testimony.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Open Container in an Uber

    Quote Quoting adjusterjack
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    Of course, it wouldn't "establish a presumption" but it could be persuasive along with other evidence and testimony.
    The statutes have no relevance to the extent to which the Uber driver operates his vehicle for the transportation of persons for compensation.

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