Beer in a car?

Different country. Different rules.

Like children allowed in UK pubs.

Allowed as long as the driver has under 0.5 per mille.

Btw be aware that in case of accident the driver may lose insurance coverage if he has consumed alcohol. Can become the most expensive alcohol in lifetime.
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This post was updated because OP did not understand it.

It’s legal in the UK as well. It’s only the driver that has to be sober.

I had someone who had recently moved from Texas express dismay/disgust that you couldn't drink and drive in California

The driver has to be sober. Passengers can do what they want.

Europe is different. When I was in high school we sometimes had beers with our teachers after school...

On one hand It just seamed odd as Germany is pretty strict on driving
On the other hand it IS Germany and they do like their beer.

To me it seams odd as you cant have open alcohol in you car where i am from.

But this is the country that gave my then mid teen aged brother a bear and gave my mother is coke..

BTW i dont get the comment about percentage and speed nor the one about insurance
If I don't drink but a passenger does and that is legal then why would insurance mot cover an accident?

On one hand It just seamed odd as Germany is pretty strict on driving

Why is that odd? The passengers aren't driving.

strict on driving

Not really, we have nearly the lowest penalties for misbehaviour in whole EU and still no speed limit on most parts of the Autobahn.

I updated my other post to be more clear.

Badger - in the US in a car even the presence of an open alcohol container is illegal.

Phred, I hate to disappoint your acquaintance, but it's also illegal to drive under the influence on Texas. .

In most but not all states in the USA, carrying open alcohol in a private vehicle is illegal. You can Google for states that do allow open alcohol. They exist but are in the minority.

Badger - in the US in a car even the presence of an open alcohol
container is illegal.

That is certainly odd.

Especially in a country that like to call itself the land of the free.

Why is that odd? The passengers aren't driving.

No open alcohol in Canada either. As well, it has to be packed in a way that it is not "readily available" to anyone in the car, such as your trunk or in packaging or container that is fastened shut.

Germany may have a low number of drivers being ticketed but that is more likely a result of German drivers then it is a result of German driving Laws being Lax.

US drivers lost respect for US driving laws and US traffic cops when the US had its absurde 55mph speed limit. It basically caused 90+% of drivers to break the speed limit by a significant amount. And this law had nothing to do with safety, So the US is probably a bit more inclined to break the driving laws. Add in that areas that should allow for higher speeds have limits often relatively low limits. And That car trips can be MUCH longer then any trip in Germany could every be because the US is so large and you get a LOT of tickets, and drivers that view getting tickets as “the price of doing business”

Yet in most locations in the US you cant even have a bottle that has ever been opened in you vehicle much less one that IS open. I took a half bottle to a friends a while back and it was supposed yo be in my trunk (boot for some of you) but i have a truck. So it had to go in the back seat. And if i encountered a cop on a “power trip” they could have argued about it.

So to an American that sees the way Germans are about driving, the idea that they have no issue with the passengers drinking it up seams at odds with the way we perceive Germany.

I remember a conversation with a cousin when i was younger where my older brother asked him about speeding tickets, They had both just gotten there beginners drivers licenses. My Brother in the US and my cousin in Germany, And my cousin replied that “you cant speed”. and that “it was illegal” It was like it was impossible yo speed. and my brother was suggesting something that my cousin never even considered possible. Meanwhile in the US most folks drving on Expressways were going 5 to 15 mph over the stupid 55mph limit.
Different counties different ways.

Ok if i understand it right we are talking they way blood alcohol is measured in Germany and Geting caught drinking and driving can cause you to lose you insurance coverage. Does that mean the insurance wont cover an accident if the driver is drunk? It that would he covered but after that coverage is canceled?

To be clear, I started this asking about the passengers not the driver. I expect to be the primary driver and I don't drink alcohol of any sort. And we will have dropped off our car before we go to Oktoberfest.

In Ohio open containers in a car are illegal as far as I know. Once while finishing a road trip we stopped in an Ohio state park for a quick picnic lunch. The policeman patrolling the parking lot saw a bottle of wine stowed in the trunk with luggage and camping gear as we unpacked a few sandwiches and told us we had to leave the park as no alcohol was allowed. We pleaded to just eat our sandwich and witness us lock the wine in the trunk and walk away. He eventually and reluctantly allowed this. On the other hand, I have seen drive thru daiquiri stands in New Orleans. I believe their laws are the same as Ohio. Why I stick to Diet Pepsi.

Just to second Linda that open alcohol in the car is not legal in Texas. I am sure there are people who do it, especially in more remote spots, but that doesn’t make it legal.

Ok if i understand it right we are talking they way blood alcohol is measured in Germany and Geting caught drinking and driving can cause you to lose you insurance coverage. Does that mean the insurance wont cover an accident if the driver is drunk? It that would he covered but after that coverage is canceled?

If you are caught driving under the influence of alcohol it costs money and depending on alcohol level penalty points ("Punkte in Flensburg") and losing the driver's license for one or more months.

In case of accident the car liability insurance will pay the full damage of other side but will likely come back to you and ask for paying it back - officially the limit is 5k EUR for this but very easily you acted in legal status of "grob fahrlässig" and then there is no limit. If you have full insurance (also for own car) you will likely pay between 50 and 100% of the damage on your own car. Most expensive is if people damage is involved following by monthly costs. That can end up in being convicted of a crime (means entry in police report file which needs to b clean for some jobs) and in private insolvency.

When applying for a new car insurance you will be asked for damages of last years - if you lie there to get insured of to save money say goodbye to any coverage.

That is certainly odd.

Especially in a country that like to call itself the land of the free.

Exactly, Badger.

When I was a young adult in the northwoods of Minnesota, there was a lot of drinking in cars on weekend nights. It was one of the main activities, and w8888e knew all the backroads in the county.

A common misconception is that the Autobahn has no speed limits-as I see another poster mentioned. There are in fact a number of places on the autobahn where there is a speed limit and you can get fined. And city streets have speed limits as well and German cops will fine you if you are over the limit.

I think a better explanation would be that Germany has high legal speed limits. Whether that is good or bad is up to you.

30% of German Autobahn have speed limits. Our number of accidents per billion vehicle kilometres is much lower than in the USA - on Autobahn even lower compared to city traffic. More facts about German Autobahn you can read here (German language).

Also on the Autobahn parts without speed limit German police is checking intensively for distance, driving behavior and other rule violations.

I recommend DeepL for translation.