Indiana’s highways likely will miss out on millions of federal dollars after state lawmakers failed to adopt an open container law during the session that ended earlier this month.

With no law banning open containers of alcoholic beverages in vehicles, the state has been hamstrung by a federal order requiring it to spend $27 million in federal funds over the past three years on safety improvements instead of constructing and repairing roads, Evansville’s WFIE TV reported.

The federal government mandated in 2001 that states either pass open container laws or spend a percentage of federal highway dollars on safety projects such as installing cables to prevent crossover accidents and establishing drunken driving checkpoints.

Indiana will be forced to divert an additional $13 million in federal road money this year because of the order and will lose $1.3 million outright, the news station reported.

A measure before the House Public Policy, Ethics and Veterans Affairs Committee sought to prohibit open containers. The panel, however, failed to vote on the bill, with opponents saying it amounted to federal government “blackmail.”

SB85, which previously passed the Senate, sought to prohibit open containers of alcohol in vehicles even if the driver is sober, although exceptions would be made for limousines and recreational vehicles. A violation would carry a fine of up to $1,000.

Current law allows passengers to drink in a vehicle if the driver has a blood-alcohol content of 0.04 percent or lower.

Indiana is one of only 14 states that allow open containers.