Driving should be pretty simple: get in, buckle up, follow all driving rules, and don’t kill anyone. If we’re really splitting hairs, you could add things like ‘keep the boozing to a minimum’ and ‘goddamnit, put some pants on when you drive’, but that’s about as far as it goes. Or is it? Turns out bored lawmakers keep coming up with some of the weirdest road rules around the globe to keep you from tearing up the highway willy-nilly in your sweet convertible. We’re talking about really weird road rules like:
Splashing Pedestrians
In a move we can totally get behind, lawmakers in Japan have made it an offense to splash pedestrians with water from a puddle. We like.
Being Female
Less of a cause celebre is Saudi Arabia’s deeply misogynistic attempt to keep female drivers off the road via threats of imprisonment and other unpleasantness. It seems they just don’t want their womenfolk to know how easy driving actually is.
Yes, we know the laws were amended a bit in 2018 to allow female drivers but the guardianship laws are still intact and female drivers are still required to get permission from their guardians to drive.
Smoking
Image Source: Flickr/Ed Schipul
All you Slovenian James Deans out there: watch out. Smoking on a motorcycle is balls illegal, we would say kick the habit.
Playing Music
…but only if you drive a cab. A recent law in Finland has made playing music without paying royalties illegal. Hey, it’s a gloomy country, and people get bored. What else are you gonna do if not pass stupid laws?
Being Unclean
Image Source: Flickr/Evoflash
A nightmare for lazy off-roaders, this Romanian law bans driving in a dirty car. Because, hey, if you can’t afford a daily wax & polish then you shouldn’t be driving.
Driving Through a Cemetery
People in Dunn, NC are apparently so bored of living in Dunn that they’ll risk raising angry spirits just to keep themselves diverted. Good job the law is there to stop their fiendish games.
Driving an Ice Cream Truck
Indianola, Iowa apparently hates childhood; and probably Christmas and puppies too.
Swearing
Perhaps following an epidemic of efficient road rage, German lawmakers made it illegal to use abusive language or derogatory signs while driving; meaning all you can offer that guy who cut you off is an ice-cold stare unless you’re lucky enough to enjoy scanner-style telekinesis.
Not Breaking the Law
Well, more of a ‘free pass’ on traffic violations. In Georgia, USA members of the Georgia Assembly cannot be ticketed while the assembly is in session; a law we assume they take full advantage of to ramp over as many cop cars as humanly possible.
Picking up Hitchhikers
Yes, you read that right! Because in Russia, hitchhikers pick up.
Eating Roadkill
Image Source: Flickr/Hunter-Desportes
It is illegal to take and eat roadkill in Wisconsin – another state, another strange road rule we thought no one would ever have to legislate against.
Spitting
Georgia again, just daring their Assembly members to try hawking a loogie outside of session hours.
Changing One Way System
In Bangkok one-way streets change direction seemingly at random, leading to the sort of scenes traffic wardens probably describe as ‘hilarious consequences’. These changes are somehow linked to the time of day, but no one ever remembers.
Parking on the Wrong Side of the Street
On a wrong day, in some Spanish and Swedish cities, traffic wardens will ticket you for not parking on the same side as the even-numbered houses on even-numbered days and vice versa. Why? We honestly have no idea.
Running out of Gas
In Ohio, running out of gas is both a bummer and a criminal act; according to the sort of logic that comes with living in Ohio in the first place.
Riding an Ugly Horse
Image Source: Flickr/Bruce McKay Yellow Snow Photography
In Wilbur, Washington, it is illegal to ride an ugly horse. Still, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that.
Changing Your Clothes
Not that you’d do it while driving, but don’t try it while parked either in Evanston, Illinois.
Storing Trash
Filling your car with junk is illegal in Hilton Head, SC. We know at least two colleagues and one hobo who’d fall victim to that law.
Honking Your Horn
This would be a great idea, if legislators in Little Rock hadn’t restricted it to ‘after 9.30, near a restaurant’.
Bicycling Properly Means Both Feet on the Peddles
Although it’s difficult to imagine how this crazy law could ever possibly be enforced, it’s true that in some areas of Mexico, it is illegal to ride a bicycle without both feet firmly on the peddles.
Sure, this craziest law is in place to ensure safety and control for those who are doing the peddling, but is this a law that people don’t break all the time?
Don’t Drive to the Beach Without a Shirt!
The beach is a natural destination for the shirtless: there’s plenty of sunlight, warm weather, and water for swimming. It doesn’t make very much sense that in Thailand, you’ll get arrested for driving to the beach without a shirt. It doesn’t make very much sense that it’s against the law to drive without a shirt period, especially in a warm climate like Thailand’s.
Considering it’s also illegal to go outside your home without underwear, it’s safe to say that Thailand is fairly strict when it comes to its clothing policies.
Stay Healthy in Parliament, Please
We’re all familiar with how rowdy it can get when the mud-slinging is in full effect in Parliament. However, generally, we trust that no one in Parliament wishes death upon each other. This must be the case because there is a law that says it is illegal to die in Parliament.
Suffice it to say, there are a lot of people who have died worldwide who did not have a lot of control over when they met their Maker.
Predicting the Future?
We all know that it’s important that firefighters have quick and reliable access to the highly-pressured water supply to douse expanding flames. It’s important that when a firefighter looks for a local hydrant it be functioning properly. But in Danville, Pennsylvania, it is required by law that fire hydrants be checked an hour before all fires.
This all sounds well and good, of course, unless you consider the fact that if people could predict when fires would occur, there wouldn’t be any need for fire hydrants in the first place.
Tying a Dog to Your Roof
Finally, from Alaska comes a law most of us would file under ‘common sense’. Does anyone seriously tie their dog to a car outside a Chevy Chase movie? Please don’t tell us.
Do you know of any other weird road rules that we missed? Let us know in the comments section below!
