Whenever you cross into another state , you ’re responsible for knowing thedriving lawsof that United States Department of State . As the Romans once enounce , " Ignorantia juris non excusat or ignorantia legis neminem excusat",which is Latin for " ignorance of the legal philosophy excuses not . " Police in the U.S. feel the same way : Being ignorant of a jurisprudence is not a valid defense for break it .
Yet , some driving constabulary are so bizarre that you ca n’t help but inquire how they ended up on the books — or how driver would even know such laws live . That ’s why we ’ve done some of the threatening lifting for you . That say , not all laws prohibit you from doing sure thing — some laws implicitlygive you permissionto do thing . And , in the casing of these eldritch drive laws , they might be things that you never even thought of doing . Here are some of the most unexpected drive laws we encounter from around the country .
1. Party in the Passenger Seat
Did you love that insome state , the front rider can have an undetermined container of alcoholic beverage ? If you assumed it was entirely illegal to push back with an candid container in a fomite , you ’re not alone . But it turns out that there are 10 states that do n’t have laws forestall passenger from drinking while a vehicle is in movement : Alaska , Arkansas , Connecticut , Delaware , Missouri , Mississippi , Rhode Island , Tennessee , Virginia and West Virginia .
If you ’re the driver , however , you ’re stillforbidden from indulge , of course . And keep in mind that if you get pulled over , you ’ll probably confront a little more scrutiny than usual to demonstrate that you ’re in obligingness with the police force .
2. Zero Tolerance in Rhode Island
So , over in Scituate , Rhode Island , they take the opposite coming to alcohol in the cable car . While passengers on the other side of the province line in Connecticut can imbibe on cocktails while riding , the Ithiel Town of Scituate ( population 10,611 ) has a law on the Christian Bible that express , in part , that no alcohol-dependent beverages , even those in shut container , can be transported by fomite . That ’s right . And the law of nature does n’t focus entirely on car ; rather , it bans people from possessing alcoholic beverageson any Ithiel Town dimension , including railcar on the roads .
Rhode Island ’s last " dry " Ithiel Town , Barrington , changed its laws in 2011 to set aside the sale of alcohol , though there are still a few other ironic towns in New England . Scituate is just something else entirely .
3. Don’t Trash Your Car in Hilton Head
If you live in or chew the fat theisland of Hilton Head , South Carolina , you better keep the inside of your car clean , otherwise you could be institutionalise with " constituting a nuisance " per a townsfolk ordinance . One might think this natural law is purely for aesthetics — you know for keeping this upscale beach locale pristine for tourists . But plainly , collecting trash in your car can cause arodent problem .
The police state , " It shall be unlawful for any soul to place , leave , plunge or allow to gather any garbage , rubbish or chalk in any edifice , vehicle and their surrounding field in the town so that the same shall or may afford food or harborage for informer . " Um , OK .
4. Rudeness in Rockville
Next time you ’re driving throughRockville , Maryland , be certain to keep yourroad ragein stoppage because foul linguistic communication here is against the natural law . ( Yes . You read that right . ) The first part of the lawstates , " A someone may not profanely curse and swear or use obscene language upon or near any street , sidewalk or main road within the hearing of persons pass by , upon or along such street , sidewalk or main road . "
That might direct you to cerebrate it ’s OK as long as no one try you , but nope , they ’ve got that cover , too . The next part land , " A person may not act in a chaotic mode by profanely cursing , swearing or using obscene speech communication . " So if you swear at the individual that cuts you off in traffic but no one hears you , did it really bump ?
5. Won’t Someone Think of the Sheep?
In Montana , it ’s a evenhandedly unwashed occurrence to labour with sheep in a vehicle , or at least , more common here than in most other places . ( In 2018 , there were about220,000 sheepin the state , compared to about 1 million people . ) If you ’re transporting sheep , though , you’d better have a chaperone . According to theMissouliannewspaper , the law of nature specifically bans sheep " in the cab of your truck " unless there ’s a chaperon , so it sound like it ’s still all right to transport them in a vehicle designed for carrying livestock . However , this detail raises more question than it answers . Who , on the dot , is the chaperon suppose to protect — the sheep , or the driver ?
