Let’s face it, the world is a weird and wonderful place and I personally love discovering just how weird it really is. One of the most fascinating sources of weirdness is law. Whether it’s Portugal’s ban on urinating in the sea or hackney carriages still having to carry a bale of hay and a bag of oats, there are some truly crazy laws out there.
Our more committed readers may remember we did a post similar to this last year but since then we’ve come across some even crazier laws that we wanted to tell you about. We consider it a public service.
So, here are even more of the world’s strangest driving laws.
USA
Alabama
It’s illegal to: Drive a car blindfolded. You’d think this would be the case everywhere in the world, or maybe nowhere else feels the need to spell it out. You can’t help but wonder what horrific event occurred before this was made law. Really makes you wonder if ‘Bama is where the expression “honestly, I could drive this road blindfolded” was coined.
Montana
It’s illegal to: Leave a sheep unattended in a vehicle. If you’re in Big Sky Country your sheep must be chaperoned at all times. Again, what the hell happened for them to make this law?
Massachusetts
It’s illegal to: Drive with a gorilla in the back seat. Was this a regular occurrence at some point? I can almost picture cars stopping at the state line and scores of gorillas getting out of the back seats and climbing into the front.
Tennessee
It’s illegal to: Shoot animals from a moving vehicle (unless it’s a whale). There are a few things wrong with this one. Why does Ishmael get to go after Moby Dick with impunity whilst other hunters end up in jail? Or perhaps most obviously, Tennessee is nowhere near the sea and therefore a huge marine mammal expelling gallons of water and stale air through a blowhole is not something you’re likely to encounter on your daily commute.
Washington State
It’s illegal to: Ride an ugly horse. Ok it’s not technically a driving law but how could this not be on the list? For starters, who decides if the horse is ugly? And why are people from Washington so against ugly horses?
Canada
New Brunswick
It’s illegal to: Drive on the roads. Only in Canada eh? To be fair this was apparently a typo that’s never been corrected. The actual law forbids you from driving on sidewalks.
Cyprus
It’s illegal to: Eat or drink whilst driving. This ban extends to water too so make sure you’re hydrated before getting behind the wheel.
France
It’s compulsory to: Carry a breathalyser. Most people are aware of this now but since France is the most visited country in the world, it doesn’t hurt to be reminded.
Luxembourg
It’s compulsory to: Have windscreen wipers. Fair enough you might think, a sensible precaution. Except windscreens are optional! I’d love to meet the officious upstart who thought this one up. Actually, on second thoughts I wouldn’t.
Scandinavia
It’s illegal to: Drive without headlights. This law extends to daylight hours so if you’ve got auto headlights, be careful!
Singapore
It’s illegal to: Be within 50m of a pedestrian who is crossing the road. How does this work exactly? What if someone steps of the pavement? Are drivers in Singapore telepathic or do they use the Force to sense potential crossings?
Denmark
It’s illegal to: Drive off without checking for bodies under your car. That’s correct folks, you have to check under your car to see if there’s anyone hiding under it like a cat.
Do you know of any other weird driving laws we’ve missed? Let us know in the comments section below. Alternatively, get in touch via Twitter and Facebook.
Spain- illegal to drive wearing flip flops. Must wear shoes.
Must have headlights on when driving near or at roadworks.
(Identifiable by yellow road markings.)