Here are eight mind-boggling reasons why you could be pulled over, ticketed, or maybe even arrested while driving or even parking your car. They have been collected by the Criminal Justice Degrees Guide, the people who help you get a job as a police officer. They should know.
1. Your Door Is Open Too Long
According to section 811.490(b) of Oregon’s state traffic laws, it is a Class D traffic violation to leave a car door open “for a period of time longer than necessary to load or unload passengers.” The unloadiong of dogs, suitcases, groceries or anything else without two legs can get you in trouble.
2. You Accidentally Screeched Your Tires
In Derby, KS., you can be pulled over and ticketed if your tires screech. The fine can be up to $500 or 30 days in jail.
3. You’re Singing A Rap Song With Your Windows Down
Section 13-53(a) of the Rockville, Maryland, municipal ordinance states that, “[a] person may not profanely curse and swear or use obscene language upon or near any street, sidewalk or highway within the hearing of persons passing by, upon or along such street, sidewalk or highway.”
4. You’re Driving Near A Bar
Several states have passed laws allowing “sobriety checkpoints” along roads with a high instance of alcohol-related accidents, as well as “no refusal” weekends in entire urban areas. In these cases, police officers in cities like Austin and Houston, Texas may stop your vehicle without probable cause.
5. You Camp In A Wagon
According to Section 86.025 of Wisconsin traffic law, it is “unlawful for any person or persons to camp in wagons [. . .] on the public highways.”
6. You Parked In Front of Dunkin Donuts on Main Street West in South Berwick, Maine
It is illegal in the township of South Berwick, Maine, to park on “Main St. (West) in front of Dunkin Donuts to a point 25 feet south.”
7. You’re Having Sex In The Front Seat of Your Taxi During Your Shift
It is illegal for Massachusetts cab drivers to have sex in the front of their cabs if they’re on the clock. If the woman is on top, this is doubly illegal.
8. You’re A Child, And You’re Driving A Big Wheels Tonka Truck
In Canton, Ohio, it’s against municipal ordinance to “go upon any roadway” if you’re on “roller skates or riding in or by means of any coaster, toy vehicle, skateboard or similar device.” The penalty is a fine up to $1,000 and up to six months in jail.
Want more silly laws? There is no shortage. Know silly laws and ordinances where you live? Let’s hear them.
In both Washington state and Oregon, you can be cited for “embracing another while driving”. according to http://www.mit.edu/~jfc/laws.html
which is why we have Trunk Monkey!
Nothing though about DWS (driving while stupid). This would remove millions of cars from the road.
John
Ha! wimps.
Here in Ontario you can have your car confiscated and face a $10,000 fine for driving with “an intention to break traction”. You don’t even need to squeal a tire, you just have to look like you’re thinking about it.
You must actually *drive* in a manner that indicates an intention to break traction. Merely looking like you’re thinking about it is not a crime. Yet.
You’re right, you actually have to be in the car and moving, but what I said holds: You don’t actually have to break traction, or be about to break traction, you just have to look like you are trying to.
Actually, the bit about doughnuts is funny, because it says something about “causing a car to circle while not in control”, so theoretically you could win your court case if you proved you were in control of the car while doing a doughnut.
Would make for fun in-court video.
What, no drifting in Canada, eh?
What if it’s snowing?
Not all that unreasonable if you read the actual regulations (which relate to street racing):
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws_regs_070455_e.htm
““race” and “contest” include any activity where one or more persons engage in any of the following driving behaviours ”
Lost me when they redefined race or contest to include ONE or more persons.
Although, I do give them credit for not covering burnouts :-)
“Driving a motor vehicle in a manner that indicates an intention to cause some or all of its tires to lose traction with the surface of the highway while turning.”
This wording also effectively bans handbrake turns. These are only useful in snow, and that is just one long slide anyway. The most bizarre one says that when turning left you must let opposing traffic proceed before making the turn after a light turns green. Normally this makes sense (I refer jumping ahead as a “Montreal Style” left turn) except if there is only one car, and the driver is asleep/talking on the phone/texting/brushing teeth/reading,etc. and doesn’t see the light. You have to wait.
When I was a kid in Virginia I got a reckless driving ticket for squealing the tires. Don’t recall the possible fine but it is punishable by up to a year in jail. For squealing the tires. Fortunately $500 in lawyer’s fees (in pre QE-I & II printing money by any other name…) and I was off with a suspended sentence. Then all I had to do to avoid risking A YEAR IN JAIL FOR SQUEALING THE F’ING TIRES was not run afoul of northern Virginia’s finest for a year, who even in the depths of the late 80’s crack wars had absolutely nothing to do but bust motorists.
I had a similar experience with being charged with reckless in Virginia almost twenty years ago because a cop heard my tires as I went around a sharp corner. I didn’t get a lawyer(that time) as I’d paid attention in previous court appearances. I got a statement from an alignment shop saying that my front toe and camber were out of spec and had the charge reduced to ‘improper driving,’ which carried about a $150 fine IIRC. Years earlier, I had a reckless/eluding charge reduced to improper driving with the help of a lawyer and the fact that I hadn’t been apprehended and the cop’s description didn’t match my car. In another part of town from where the cop lost his suspect, I passed someone that was apparently lost and kept starting and stopping until I had enough and went around him. He called in my license plate and the cop decided that my all-red coupe was the red car with a black top that lost him on his motorcycle somewhere else at the same time. And that’s how I had two improper driving convictions on my record, a charge generally reserved for octogenarians that drive through schoolyards.
It is illegal in the township of South Berwick, Maine, to park on “Main St. (West) in front of Dunkin Donuts to a point 25 feet south.”
I would love to hear the explanation of this one.
Fashion Square Mall in Charlottesville, Virginia has spots reserved for cops near the doors so they don’t have to walk off any of their donuts.
Obvious. Cops don’t want people parking where they like to park. Cops ==> Donuts.
Cops need quick access?
Having visited the DD’s in South Berwick on more than a few occasions, I can tell you the explanation is not that exciting. It’s basically because main street is the busiest street in town and there is really no parking in front, not even a break down lane to speak of. This is pretty common with towns in New England built in the early 1600’s, where most streets evolved from horse carriage paths.
There needs to be a parking space available for the police. That is obvious.
In Coral Gables, Fl I was warned by a cop to close my car window while I was at a client’s home for a few minutes because it would encourage someone to steal the car. In the same town, pickup trucks are not allowed in driveways.
“In the same town, pickup trucks are not allowed in driveways.”
I’ve heard of Homeonwers Associations passing this rule, to keep the “riff-raff” out. Apparently, if you’re rich enough to live in the neighborhood and own a pickup truck, you’re supposed to be rich enough to build a garage for it, too.
While I’m a fan of using the right tool for the right job, and I often feel that pickup trucks are used for jobs that don’t require their capabilities, I’ve owned a pickup truck. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t get along with people who wouldn’t let me park one in my driveway.
When I was a kid, before the suburban commuter truck existed, we briefly lived in a condo with a no trucks rule.
That wasn’t any kind of conservationist response to people not using a tool to its capabilities.
Then as now, it was an expression of the contempt of yuppies towards the underclass that works with their hands.
Couldn’t pay me enough to live around snobs like that.
There are lots of busybody Home Owners Association board members out there. My mom has been cited for having too many weeds in her lawn (it is not a weed patch) and for not mowing it at least once each week. She was also told that she would need to get the approval of the HOA Board before havign her house painted even though she was planning on using the same color combination as she has now. My uncle was cited for having an RV parked in his driveway when a friend came to visit. They weren’t staying in the RV, they just parked it in his driveway when they stopped while passing through town.
Where my father live in Jupiter, Florida, there is a no pickup truck rule as well. But is it a anti blue collar rule? If you drive a typical work van, that is ok, just no pickups. If they wanted to push blue collar types out, they’d ban ketchup…
That’s nothing. I was ticketed by the Ohio Highway Patrol for doing 107 in a 55, during a Lotus Seven clone with the doors and front fenders removed. Like we ALL haven’t done something like that at SOME point, right?
A Lotus Seven has doors?
and fenders?
Jack, if you want to drive like a maniac, on an open road, at three in the morning when there’s no traffic, I have no problem with that… Unfortunately, that’s not always the case: our last traffic fatality locally was a guy driving his BMW at over 100 mph around a hairpin curve– killed himself and a lady coming the other direction.
Trust me, if I’d hit an old lady in this thing, the frame would have exploded and the old lady would have been fine. I will elaborate in a future article.
I guess triple digits on the highway near these places is out of the question then.
Stopped via roadblock by the Massachusetts state police for 115 (radar) in a 55 zone on I-395 (back in the drive 55 save lives days).
Full felony stop, walked away with a verbal warning (and a need to change my underwear).
If I’m lying – I’m dying.
A friend got pulled over for speeding here in Oregon. His excuse to the cop was, “sorry, I was coasting downhill in neutral and didn’t notice my speed.” The cop promptly gave him a ticket for speeding, and another for being in neutral on a downhill grade.
That one is priceless!
That wasn’t the brightest response by your friend.
I was pulled over in Oregon once for driving to slow and obstructing traffic. This was in Southeastern Oregon on Thanksgiving Day. the pig (this guy deserves that term) pulled me over for going “50ish in a 55 zone” (I was going 53 having just left a 50 zone) thereby obstructing traffic, which consisted of one other car, his. He let me off with a warning after grilling me about my occupation, employer, where I was coming from (my mom’s), where she lived, etc. I was pulled over for having California Plates in Oregon (as another Oregon cop admitted to me when I got testy after being pulled over for going 58 in a 55 zone while other traffic wizzed by me at 65+).
The one about driving near a bar isn’t breaking the law.
1) It is against the law to drive a motor vehicle while blind folded in the state of Alabama.
2) In Florida, if you tie your elephant to a parking meter, you must pay the regular parking fee as prescribed on the meter.
3) As of 2005, it was still required in Ohio to honk your horn when passing another car.
4) In Pennsylvania, any motorist driving along a country road at night must stop every mile and send up a rocket signal, wait 10 minutes for the road to be cleared of livestock, and continue.
5) In Pennsylvania, motorized vehicles are not to be sold on Sundays.
6) In Anchorage, Alaska, it is illegal to tie your dog to the roof of your car.
7) In Oklahoma, “molesting” or “having relations” with an automobile is illegal.
8) In Connecticut fire trucks can not travel faster than 25 MPH, even if they are going to an emergency.
9) In Richardson, Texas, U-Turns are illegal.
10) Wait, it gets better, in Glendale, Arizona it is illegal to drive in reverse.
11) In Massachusetts, gorillas are not allowed in the backseat of a car. Thankfully the law says nothing about the front seat.
But what about trunk monkeys? Are those still legal?
Google tells me (as of 2008) that there are 13 states where you can’t purchase a car on Sunday… Nevada is one of those states. A friend told me the casinos support the law because it prevents big winners from buying and driving home on Sunday. They stay and gamble their winnings away instead.
I love “shopping” for cars on Sunday. I can wander the lots to my hearts content and never see a salesman. Lots of people do it.
MI also has that stupid law.
Would it be OK for Massachusetts cab drivers to use the back seat?
As long as the cabbie is a “he” and is on top.
I don’t see what is so mind-boggling about most of those laws. To me, they seem to be a response to a big problem these days: douchebaggery. Or, a lack of common courtesy.
1. Most likely a response of some douchebag (DB) who leaves his driver’s door open, partially blocking traffic. This would force other drivers to swerve into another lane, possible oncoming traffic, or cause traffic to back up. Of course, asking said DB to close the door would lead to typical DB behaviour. Hence, a law stating that the doors should not remain open for longer than necessary.
2. Again, probably a response to typical DB tire-spinning. When challenged by LEO, all they have to say is that it was unintentional, due to the massive horsepower of their engines. So they can continue with their DB behaviour and there would be no easy way to curb it without such a law.
3. Your right to say what you will ends with my right not to hear it. STFU or close the windows. Again, an act of common courtesy would have negated such a law being enacted.
4. Roadside checkpoints are not new. Again, if drivers would act responsibly, such checkpoints would not be needed.
5. Probably an old law that hasn’t been updated, but is probably similar to several anti-loitering laws around. When campers start to become a nuisance, such laws inevitably follow, just like when beggars start to become aggressive/threatening, anti-loitering laws are not far behind.
6. Again, sounds like a reaction to DB parking and blocking traffic.
7. Obviously, engaging is sexual activity while potentially operating a vehicle is a serious risk to others. This is a no-brainer, but chances are someone without a brain did something that forced such a law to be enacted.
8. Kids and traffic don’t mix. Any responsible parent would not allow their kids to play in the streets.
Again, it seems to me that these laws are simply enforcing what should be either common sense, or common courtesy.
“3. Your right to say what you will ends with my right not to hear it. ”
Constitution says no, outside of some pretty limited circumstances.
Can you provide a reference for this generalized “right not to hear things” in a public place?
“3. Your right to say what you will ends with my right not to hear it. ”
Constitution says no, outside of some pretty limited circumstances.
Can you provide a reference for this generalized “right not to hear things” in a public place?
Its called a disturbance of the peace. I wish it was more enforced with DBs who troll down the street with their fart can mufflers rattling, and 24″ woofers.
The ROW is public, but if I’m on my lawn and some DB is rolling down the street blaring music, there is not some magical wall at the junction of the ROW and my property line that prevents sound from passing through.
“Its called a disturbance of the peace. I wish it was more enforced with DBs who troll down the street with their fart can mufflers rattling, and 24″ woofers. ”
Actually, it is not called a disturbance of the peace. Read the law that was quoted in the original article, it makes it illegal to “curse and swear” in a manner that bystanders can hear it but says nothing about abnormal volume.
This particular law has nothing to do with “loud” speech and has everything to do with arbitrarily “bad” speech.
Presumably, if I drove past your house singing along with a Bing Crosby song loud enough for you to hear the lyrics it’s not an issue as far as *this* law is concerned. If it’s a DMX song, I’m breaking the law.
“3. Your right to say what you will ends with my right not to hear it. ”
Constitution says no, outside of some pretty limited circumstances.
Can you provide a reference for this generalized “right not to hear things” in a public place?
—————
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly why such laws are written. Instead of thinking of others, the DB will undoubtedly say “Show me where it states that I can’t do ____” and will continue with said behaviour until the lawmakers specifically write a law that says you can’t do ____.
In this case, you have almost certainly been gored by federalism. Maryland’s constitution has no great protection of speech or assembly, although it asserts religious freedom of worship and freedom of the press. Maryland asserts broad policing powers to “keep the peace” and do otherwise under the 9th and 10th Amendments of the federal constitution. No federal court is every going to hear a challenge to this law under application of the 14th Amendment to bind the state.
So, if you want to roll your Donk with the windows down singing along to the Cee-Lo as God intended, you probably have to get out of town as federalism has thus bit you.
Was Maryland also the state that overstepped and claimed they could regulate the lighting on the Pontiac G8 instead of an actual bona-fide use of the federal commerce clause? They’ve got a peculiarity about them.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why the right to free speech is specifically protected in the Constitution and supported by mountains of case law.
Instead of understanding the real limitations of free speech, somebody will undoubtedly invent a new “right not to hear things” and attempt to enforce their own arbitrary morality on others, and will continue with such behavior until the courts specifically tell them “Knock it off, freedom of expression trumps your delicate sensibilities.”
2. What’s wrong witha screech or a chirp? How is that so “DB”?? Anyone with some beans under the hood and an agressive clutch has had that happen when attempting a spirited take-off, even when not wanting to spin the tires.
I understand public safety but let’s be nice now and not turn the road into land of Lord Buzz Killigton.
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/11/ttacs-black-friday-special-corvette-crashes/
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/12/dont-run-out-in-tha-streetz-and-fishtail-your-corvette-until-you-read-this-article/
Spend any time here or on other auto sites and you will invariably come across videos of DB spinning their tires and losing control. It can happen very quickly, as shown in that video from Coffee and Cars. Several of these incidents, especially if there are injuries, will inevitably lead to lawmakers attempting to stop such behaviour. And since you can’t write a law that states “stop being a douche,” you will have to write a law that bans specific behaviour. Yeah, it’s not really fair, but it is understandable.
None of this compares to what Top Gear says you can’t do in [car-hating] Switzerland.
*On a different note, in addition to being sincere assholes, Cops must be INCREDIBLY insecure people.
=>I recently went in to a station to give a report, and the officer had his hand on his sidearm for the entire 1st 1/2 of my report!
*Either that, or I must look a lot more like a professional assassin than I’d previously thought.
I mean, I don’t Think I look particularly intimidating.
Maybe he thought you were about to confess to a shooting offense.
I say dump the hip hop. And any other loud noise that disturbs the peace.
I got ticketed in St. Augustine, FL for “Passing too fast”, on a two lane highway. In FL, you are not allowed to exceed the speed limit while passing.
In MOST states, you cannot exceed the speed limit whilst passing… which is common sense, when you think about it… I mean, if the guy in front of you is driving 70 mph, why the heck ARE you passing him?!!
I beg to differ about “common sense”. I was in a 55mph zone. The driver ahead of me was going 45mph. There was oncoming traffic in the other land, albeit at a safe distance for me to pass. I reached the astonishing speed of 62mph while passing, pulled back into my lane ahead of the guy going 45mph, and immediately slowed down to 55mph. The cop saw all this, and gave me a ticket. Please explain the “common sense” of that.
i feel angry. sometimes i hope for the worst. the hell with friendship. things get worse when few speak up.
The laws exist, because stupid people exist… And the laws are written so that, when it goes to court, the guilty party can’t weasel out of a conviction. We live in a small town, where most of the laws are NOT enforced… Needless to say, it sucks: do you REALLY want dozens of unmuffled, 120 decibel Harley Davidson motorcycles, blasting by your house every day? Or do you want teenage kids flying by at 70 mph (in a 25 mph zone) just to impress their buddies? So, yeah, there ARE stupid laws… but there are WAY MORE stupid people who shouldn’t be on the road!
Many cops have Harley Davidsons, so laws about loud pipes on them are almost never enforced.
From the land of my birth, OHIO… (pay attention Baruth)
State Law – The Ohio driver’s education manual states that you must honk the horn whenever you pass another car.
Canton, OH 03 11. 03. 00 USE OF COASTERS, ROLLER SKATES OR SIMILAR DEVICES IN STREETS.
No person upon roller skates or riding in or by means of any coaster, toy vehicle, skateboard or similar device shall go upon any roadway except while crossing a street on a crosswalk.
Fairview Park – It’s against the law to honk your horn “excessively”.
Lima, OH – Any map that does not have Lima clearly stated on the map cannot be sold. (Car related if you all remember when we used to carry maps in our gloveboxes.)
McDonald, OH – Your duck may not paraded down Ohio Avenue
North Canton, OH – It is against the law to roller skate without notifying the police.
Oxford, OH – It is illegal to drive around the town square more than 100 times in a single session. Also – Motor vehicles on the square are prohibited. Horn honking is not permitted as it might scare horses.
Youngstown – You may not run out of gas. Riding on the roof of a taxi cab is not allowed.
http://www.dumblaws.com/
#2 is illegal throughout California, at least when I was a teenager, the cop would cite you for exhibitionist driving.
In Finland: if you don’t have a rear view mirror, you have to cover or paint over your rear window.
You can be charged for drunk driving for sitting in the driver’s seat even if the car’s turned off and you don’t have the keys.
You may not carry passengers in the back of a cargo van unless they are “extremely pitiful” – with no clarification what this means.
You may not use emergency flashers on a moving car, even while towing.
You may not change lanes in a highway to give room for other vehicles.
Using a pickup truck bed cover forces you to pay a vehicle tax up to 10000s of euros.
You can be fined up to 1,8 million euros for using heating oil in a diesel powered vehicle.
“Using a pickup truck bed cover forces you to pay a vehicle tax up to 10000s of euros.”
Why?
Do you mean one of those taught vinyl things that span across the top of the bed? Or a canopy?
Unless it is specifically allowed in the registration, putting any kind of semi-permanent cover on a truck bed changes the vehicle into a passenger car, which have a higher purchase tax than cargo vehicles. The difference is then levied retroactively from the original purchase price of the vehicle, adjusted to inflation.
The same thing happens if you attach pretty much anything into the back of a van.
So yeah, that’s how things work in “the world’s best country.”
In Massachusetts, on certain stretches of roads, and at the peak of rush hour – we’re allowed to drive in the breakdown lane. They call them active breakdown lanes and you usually find the fastest/carziest drivers there. I’m not sure if this has proliferated elsewhere – I have yet to see it outside of Massachusetts.
Another interesting road quirk is Rt 1 in Foxboro MA after stadium events. They borrow lanes from opposite side of the road to handle the extra traffic. You end up getting a bit of practice driving on the left side of a road with a median to your right. It’s a really strange feeling.
Yes! The breakdown lanes are great. Never had a problem with them.
Great idea if you ask me.
“In these cases, police officers in cities like Austin and Houston, Texas may stop your vehicle without probable cause.”
The US Supreme Court ruled recently that no search warrants are needed for traffic stops and car searches. I.E. a car is not a private home.
“It is illegal in the township of South Berwick, Maine, to park on Main St. (West) in front of Dunkin Donuts to a point 25 feet south.”
This is taken out of context. Many municipal codes include itemized lists of every location that has parking restrictions. Apparently, South Berwick, ME is one of them: http://www.southberwickmaine.org/public_documents/southberwickme_police/ordinances?textPage=1
I’ve never been there, but if you look at Google Streetview, you can see why there would be a restriction. The road narrows for traffic in that direction beginning at the driveway of the donut shop. A car parked in front of it would be obstructing traffic, so it wouldn’t be particularly safe to park there.
“In these cases, police officers in cities like Austin and Houston, Texas may stop your vehicle without probable cause.”
Police don’t need probable cause to stop you anywhere in the United States. Probable cause is required for an arrest, but for a traffic stop, reasonable suspicion is all that is required. And certain checkpoints, such as sobriety checkpoints, don’t even require reasonable suspicion.
Number 3 is blatantly racist against the Irish.
My uncle was given a ticket for riding a wheelie on the sidewalk and the ticket read “Failur to maintain control”. He beat it in court when the judge agreed he was in control but the judge also noted that he should be given a ticket for reckless driving the next time.
In my home town, doing a burnout won’t get you a reckless driving ticket, but it WILL get you an “excessive noise” ticket. Strangely, I never once saw a Harley pulled over for this.
Then again, this is the same town that will ticket you for “unnecessary, repetitive driving”.
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/the-end-of-cruising