The content of the article:
- It is not forbidden - it means it is allowed!
- My state is my rule
- The strangest traffic rules in America
As long as there are cars, there are as many rules governing their movement. From the moment the first car entered the road, many such rules have been invented. Over the decades, they improved, new ones appeared and old ones died out.
In every country, even in a particular area, you can find sometimes surprising rules for drivers and their passengers. Sometimes they are striking in their absurdity, but nevertheless they continue to act, and for their violation it is quite possible to get a lot of tangible problems.
In the United States of America, where life on wheels is almost the norm, in different states there are still some rules that can baffle and dazzle with their originality and absurdity.
It is not forbidden - it means it is allowed!
Before getting acquainted with the list of the most ridiculous, in the opinion of our driver, American traffic rules, it is worth understanding where they came from.
The fact is that American jurisprudence, even in the last century, was already one of the most developed and "advanced" in the world. No, not from the point of view of protecting those who need this protection most of all, but from the point of view of formalizing the process itself.
For example, in the legal practice of American courts of the last century, there were frequent cases when users and consumers of certain types of goods (household appliances, cars, food or clothing) managed to sue the manufacturing companies for decent money. As a rule, it was possible to do this on the basis of the principle “not prohibited - it means it is allowed”.
For example, no one bothered to prohibit putting a plastic packaging bag on your head - it means that if you put it on and accidentally suffocate, the company that packed its product in this bag should be responsible for this and did not indicate in the corresponding instructions that you should not put it on your head.
It sounds funny out of habit, but, nevertheless, similar precedents exist, including in relation to drivers and passengers of cars. In order to avoid possible problems in the course of legal proceedings, a number of rules were invented, which now can amaze with their seeming illogicality, strangeness and even absurdity.
My state is my rule
Each US state has its own set of traffic rules. Naturally, there is a so-called "backbone" - a list of rules that apply throughout the United States.
But in addition to this general list of traffic rules, in each state there is sure to be a considerable "appendage" of unique rules that are valid only in this territory, which are mandatory and for violation of which you can pay with both the contents of the wallet and a driver's license or even personal freedom.
That is why tourists who decide to get to know this country through a car trip should, just in case, carefully familiarize themselves with the traffic rules at the entrance to each state. And then you never know what cases happen ...
The strangest traffic rules in America
1. Back roads in Pennsylvania: warn the cow
In the state of Pennsylvania, animal husbandry is well developed. Huge herds graze in the northern regions of the state, and local farmers specialize mainly in milk production.
Dairy cows here are the pride of not only farmers, but also a kind of "visiting card" of the state. Fertile, rich in succulent grass, the soil provides the opportunity for almost round-the-clock grazing, and the warm climate allows you not to worry if the herd did not have time to enter the barn at nightfall. Climate. But not car traffic.
Probably the first farmer, who discovered that his cow was hit by a motorist in the night, killed himself for a long time. And when he came to his senses, he began to act in the spirit of the best American traditions: he filed a lawsuit against the muddler. The driver, most likely, also turned out to be not so simple and sensibly pointed out that the road is country-side, there are no lights along it, and the cow successfully disguises itself as a night environment, and try not to crash here if the cow dozed off exactly on the roadway.
At this point, the lawyers sensed the possibility of a precedent, and since installing lanterns along all country roads, even in rich America, is an overwhelming task, they quickly figured out how to solve the problem ... at the expense of the drivers. Well, it's not for cows to establish a rule ?!
So a rule for drivers in Pennsylvania arose: at night on a country road you need to stop, launch a signal flare into the air and wait ten minutes. Obviously, during this time, all the surrounding cows should have time to get out of the way. Then you can move on. And so - every one and a half kilometers. A fun trip, isn't it?
So in Pennsylvania it is better to drive on country roads only during the day. And then you never know ... not a cow, so the police.
2. Nevada: don't drive caravans on highways
Nevada is not Egypt or Morocco, there are no Bedouins there. But there are camels. And, probably, in such numbers that in the last century, the lawyers were pretty concerned about these ships of the desert, who decided to conquer the local highway.
According to the law of Nevada, if you decided to pose as a wandering Bedouin and instead of, like all normal Americans, travel by car, decided to ride a camel, do not try to drive it onto the motorway. The punishment for such an offense is severe here - imprisonment!
3. Connecticut: don't rely on firefighters
Photo: Connecticut firefighters
Connecticut is a great place to stay. But only if you have taken care of your home insurance in case of fire.
If suddenly something breaks out somewhere - do not hope that it will be quickly extinguished, it is better to immediately step aside and start calling your insurers.
The reason for this is simple - by the time a fire engine reaches you, the house will most likely have time to turn into cheerfully winking coals. And this is not because the firefighters here are callous and careless people. They just can't drive on state roads faster than forty kilometers per hour.
This is not a joke, this is a completely "living", operating rule. An ordinary car can reach normal speed. The "ceiling" for the fire engine is forty kilometers. It remains a mystery who wrote the rule - misanthropes or cunning insurers.
4. Alabama: look at the road!
There are also rules in the United States that will only make you shrug your shoulders: why they arose, probably, even the most experienced and knowledgeable specialists in the field of law do not remember. For example, in Alabama you cannot drive ... with a blindfold on your eyes!
It remains only to guess who and under what circumstances came up with this original idea. But there is no doubt that once someone tried to drive along the roads of Alabama in this form - all such rules were written and are being written on the basis of a precedent.
5. Sarasota: better stay at home
An interesting point in the legislation of the United States is the fact that laws and regulations here can change not only within the state, but also be special for a particular city.
The town of Sarasota in Florida illustrates this perfectly. Either pedestrians were very disliked here at one time, or motorists gathered in the city very much money, those with whom even incorruptible Themis is more expensive to contact ...
Anyway, according to Sarasota law a motorist who hits a pedestrian on the road must pay a $ 78 finebut he can safely go further, on the hunt for the next poor fellow.So the local population has two options: to get behind the wheel or not to stick out of the threshold.
6. Massachusetts: Size Matters!
This northeastern state has long been famous for its intelligence, high standards of upbringing. Unsurprisingly, one of the traffic rules in Massachusetts prohibits drivers ... from spitting out of windows.
So pedestrians can be completely calm - they will not have to powerlessly shake their fists after the bully, who is rapidly retreating on four wheels.
However, there is an exception to this rule, which is annoying for pedestrians. If the driver is behind the wheel of a truck, he has every right to spit out of the window. Perhaps this is even logical: the truck is big - who will stop it?
7. And do not carry gorillas from behind!
Probably Massachusetts generally likes rules with exceptions. In the same state, there is another rule that can confuse a logical thinking person. Gorillas cannot be transported in the state ... in the back seat of a car.
It's funny that this rule does not mention the front seat: either a gorilla may well go next to the driver, or is it considered that no one would even think of it?
8. Glendale: filmmaker hell
California is a star state in terms of cinematography. They love and know how to make films.
As you know, good cinema also means stunts, including car stunts. Stuntmen, crawling out onto the roof of a car at speed and dashing into a ditch - what could be more exciting! But filming such scenes is not easy - driving on the highway, but in front of onlookers ...
Maybe at one time the residents of the city of Glendale were very annoyed by this circumstance, and they came up with a rule for themselves - at a car speed of 120 km / h you cannot jump out of it!
However, if the stuntmen are able to prove that they were traveling at a lower speed, they can jump to their health. But won't it turn out, like Stanislavsky, “I don’t believe!”? So it is better to shoot such scenes in another place - it will turn out more reliably!
9. Driving on sidewalks? Easily!
Before arguing with the driver of a car in your city, who for some unknown reason rides on his "iron horse" on the sidewalk, be glad that you are not in Oregon.
In your home country, you can even sue the impudent person. But in Oregon, if this impudent "loud cry notifies passers-by" about his movement on the sidewalk, he is in his right, and you just have to get out of his way hastily.
10. New Mexico: protection from taxi drivers
But this rule is rather not strange, but very desirable for “our Palestinians”. In New Mexico, taxi drivers forcibly dragging a passenger into their car end up in court!
There is only one way out - to behave decently. And if you really want to be assaulted, you can drag citizens into the car outside of working hours - in this case, this rule no longer applies.
It remains only to guess to what extent the impudent taxi drivers of the lawyers of this American state once got it.
Conclusion
There is hardly a driver in the world who has never violated a single traffic rule in his life. This can be related both to a specific situation in which violation of the rule saves from more serious consequences, or it can be caused by elementary ignorance. Therefore, it makes sense to show interest and familiarize yourself with the rules of the area in which you have to travel.
