In a single criminal episode, possessing one or more open containers in a passenger area results in how many offenses?

• A. Two offenses
• B. Three offenses
• C. Four offenses
• D. One offense

Answer: (D)

The concept being tested is how the statute defines the offense when open containers are present. The rule is that possessing one or more open containers in a passenger area constitutes a single offense for that criminal episode. The phrase “one or more” means the prohibited condition is met regardless of how many containers there are, so the count doesn’t increase with additional containers. In a single incident, you’re charged once for this conduct; only a separate, distinct episode (such as leaving the vehicle and later re-entering with another open container) would create a new offense. The other options would imply counting each container or each episode separately, which the wording does not support.