Dear Mahatma: You recently answered a question about towed trailers and passengers, but that begs other questions. Such as whether passengers in an RV have to be buckled in, or if they can walk around while the RV is on the road, or if they can cook, or drink beer. -- Vacationer
Dear Vacationer: Thank you for allowing us to remind folks that Arkansas Code Annotated 27-35-111, "Trailers and towed vehicles," prohibits anyone from occupying a towed vehicle while it's being moved on the highway.
For your RV questions -- buckled in, walk around, cook, quaff -- we consulted two veteran law enforcement officers. They are Ron Burks, chief of the Arkansas Highway Police, and Capt. Carl Minden of the Pulaski County sheriff's office.
Do passengers in an RV have to be buckled in? Minden and Burks both say that drivers and front seat passengers are required to wear seat belts. Rear passengers not covered by the Child Passenger Protection Act are not required to wear seat belts. Although, duh, they should.
Can RV passengers walk around while the vehicle is in motion? Burks knows of no laws that are specific to passengers of such motor homes. Minden agrees, and wisely points out that walking around could distract the driver, and if there were an accident when a passenger were walking around, that could be bad news for the passenger.
How about cooking? No specific statutes, to their knowledge, but cooking in transit doesn't seem all that wise or safe.
Finally, can passengers quaff brewskis while an RV is in transit? Burks says Arkansas does not have an open container law, and he knows of nothing else in state law that would prohibit the consumption of adult beverages in an RV. He notes there may be local ordinances that prohibit drinking within public view. (If there are any municipalities with such an ordinance, please share that information.)
Minden cites Arkansas Code Annotated 5-71-212, "Public intoxication -- drinking in public."
Public intoxication could be when a person "is likely to endanger himself or herself or another person or property." So, a blotto RV passenger could endanger others? Sounds plausible to us.
As for the offense of drinking in public, it can occur when a person is drinking in "any public place ... On any highway or street ..."
Is the inside of an RV a public place? Would an intoxicated RV passenger actually be on any highway or street? Those are, we reckon, questions for a judge to answer.
Dear Mahatma: What's up with the traffic circle at Rahling Road and Pebble Beach Drive. Work seems to have stopped. -- Richard
Dear Richard: City sources say there has been a delay in relocating a water main. Resolution of this expected soon. The project is expected to be complete in about three months, including an asphalt overlay of the existing street.
Vanity plate on a BMW coupe: OOHSNAP
Mahatma@arkansasonline.com
Metro on 06/11/2016