5 Insane Driving Laws From Around the World

Forget what you needed to know to pass your driver’s test here, because some of these laws are so weird they’ll blow your mind.

Russia Does Not Like Dirty Cars

For reasons that are only obvious to those inside the Kremlin, Russia have a law that states if you car is considered dirty by officials, you can be fined around 2000 rubles (£85) on the spot. Russian citizens have stated that they think this is just a way to gauge more money in fines from unsuspecting motorists. In any case, if you haven’t given your bonnet a good wax and shine in a while, it is probably best to stay away from Russia.

You Are Banned From Driving On Certain Weekdays in Manila

In what seems like one of the most arbitrary rules in road law history, the capital city of the Philippines bans drivers from using their vehicles depending on the last letters of their licence plates. This is apparently in response to the terrible driving conditions across the city, where red lights are just a suggestion to stop and lanes are there to be changed as much and as fast as possible.

Don’t Honk Your Horn near Sandwiches in Arkansas

Inexplicably, it is illegal to honk your horn near a shop that sells sandwiches or cold drinks after 9 pm in Arkansas. When researching this law, I couldn’t find one explanation of why it was brought in and why no one pointed out how stupid it is. Thinking about this leaves the mind reeling with so many questions; why is it so specific about the temperature of drinks? What does car horns have to do with food? Was this a serious problem in Arkansas that needed to be stamped out?!

Drunks Can Only Sit in the Back in Macedonia

Driving while under the influence of alcohol is a pretty sensible law; you lose a lot of your sense of judgement while drunk and turn into an overconfident idiot. Less sensible, however, is the decision to make sitting in the front seat passenger seat of a car while intoxicated illegal. While it could be argued that being driving even close to the wheel of a car is dangerous, I don’t think this is the case. Instead, this was probably invented by someone who likes a bit to drink and then to have a lie down in the back seat of a car while being chauffeured around.

In New Jersey You Cannot Pump Your Own Gas

Filling up your tank with petrol is by no means a difficult task, so it is difficult to fully understand the purpose of a petrol attendant. Surely, most people of perfectly capable of doing this themselves? New Jersey doesn’t think so, as there is actually a law that requires every petrol station to employ an attendant to pump your gas. Some argue that this is a way of forcing job creation within the economy, but opponent of this argue that the money spent on this should be spent on more purposeful jobs, such as city beautification.

I Mustafa is an instructor at Pass At Once Driving School Birmingham http://www.passatonce.co.uk