Maybe you’re a safe driver who always obeys the speed limit. You drive defensively and have never been in an accident. You’re glad to install that monitoring device the insurance company sent, because you consistently get the discount for safe driving. Good for you.
But don’t think any of that guarantees the police won’t pull you over. There are lots of things you could be doing on your daily commute that are illegal, and you’re not even aware of them. And these laws can be hard to keep track of, since they differ from state to state.
Those cute fuzzy dice that decorate your rearview mirror? They could get you pulled over in states like Michigan. Do you have a four-legged best friend who rides in your back seat? That could be a ticket in three states if he’s roaming free back there.
Have you modded your car? Is the tint on your windows too dark? Do you know what’s considered too dark for window tint in your state? Do you have underbody lights? What color are they? These are things you have to take into consideration if you don’t want to get cited.
Even seemingly innocuous things could get you pulled over. Lots of drivers honk when they see a friend along the side of the street. But that, at least theoretically, could get you a ticket in states that don’t allow honking for non-emergency reasons.
It doesn’t end there. Driving with your hazard lights on, staying in the left lane too long, and not clearing all the snow off your car before taking it on the road could all get you a ticket. And the list goes on and on. The important thing is to know the rules of the road wherever you drive.
Be careful whom you’re honking at in these places
We know, you honked at that guy who cut you off because you wanted to help him to see that what he was doing was unsafe. You’re a responsible driver and that honk was meant as constructive feedback, motivated by your desire for him to get home safely. And the names you loudly called him were meant merely to drive the point home.
If we’re being honest with ourselves, many of us honk at others because we’re angry or annoyed as much for safety reasons. But honking just because you’re mad is illegal in Florida, as is honking at a friend you’re passing by. Basically, the statute prohibits honking for any reason other than safety. Fortunately, alerting that driver in front of you who’s too busy going through his phone’s playlist to notice that the light has just turned green is considered a valid safety reason. Anchorage, Alaska has a similar ordinance about honking. It forbids using your horn except as a warning of danger. California is another state where you can get pulled over for honking your horn for a non-safety reason.
Multiple U.S. cities also have ordinances that make it illegal to honk for non-emergency reasons. New York City prohibits this and has even installed noise-detection cameras activated by sounds over a certain number of decibels, including honking. If you’re caught honking your horn unnecessarily, your plate will be noted, and you’ll get a ticket in the mail.
Dallas, Denver, and Chicago also prohibit trivial use of your horn. Interestingly, the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that honking is protected as free speech under the state’s constitution.
Make sure Fido is buckled up in these states
You’re probably as alarmed as we are when you pass by a driver with a dog on his or her lap. Maybe you’ve even remarked that doing that should be against the law. Well, it is illegal in some states. In Hawaii, for example, you could get fined $97 if a cop sees you driving with Mr. Cuddles on your lap. The law in that state makes it illegal to have a pet loose anywhere in a moving car.
New Jersey will fine you up to $1,000 if Spot isn’t seated in a harness, a crate, or a seat belt. Rhode Island laws are similar, but allow the dog to sit on a passenger’s lap. A law like this may seem like common sense, but a bill banning dogs in laps was met with stiff backlash in New Hampshire.
What about dogs riding in the backs of pickups? As dangerous as this is, only six states restrict this: Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire, California, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. (Cue Gen-Xers flexing about how, when they were kids, not only did their dogs ride in the back of pickups, but they rode back there with them.) Some of the states, like New Hampshire and California, specify that dogs in pickup beds must be restrained in some way to keep them from falling or jumping out. In our experience, though, most dogs will jump out of a moving pickup only once, regardless of how it turns out.
Washington and Oregon prohibit transporting any animal, not just dogs, in this manner. Washington law also bans transporting animals on the hood, running boards, or fenders. We’re not sure what’s going on over there in Washington, but someone felt it necessary to make that a law.
Move over, Grandma!
Few things frustrate us more than encountering happy campers on the interstate. We’re not talking about folks driving RVs or pulling camper trailers. No, we’re talking about all those slow drivers camped out in the passing lane because they don’t seem to know what that lane is for. We mean, it’s in the name, “passing” lane.
It turns out that state lawmakers around the country share our frustration. Every state in the union has a law restricting the use of the left lane. It is against the law in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Indiana, Utah, Colorado, and Kansas to drive in the left lane or block overtaking cars unless you’re passing or making a left turn. New Jersey takes it a step farther by requiring drivers in most cases to use the rightmost lane. This restricts use of not only the left lane, but also the center lane, unless you’re passing or turning left, though the law allows for local jurisdictions to make their own laws about the center lane.
Yet, somehow in spite of all these laws, many Americans seem to be confused about when to drive in the left lane. Add to that the drivers who have appointed themselves to govern everyone else’s speed by occupying the left lane to make sure no one behind them can drive too fast. Just be warned, this kind of driving can get you pulled over.
Honorable mentions
You’re probably doing a whole host of other things that can get you pulled over and you don’t even know it. Do you have one of those pine-tree-shaped air fresheners dangling from your rearview mirror? Hanging anything from your mirror could get you cited in Minnesota, California, and Pennsylvania.
Have you ever been caught in severe rain or fog on the road that forces you to slow down because visibility is so bad? Some drivers feel that’s a good time to use their hazard lights. But turning on your hazards while the car is moving is illegal in Kansas, and Louisiana, among other states. You could even be charged with a misdemeanor.
Those neon underglow lights used to trick out some cars look pretty cool, don’t they? Well, they can get you pulled over in Connecticut, Maine, and Michigan. Other states have restrictions on these lights, like what colors they can be. And you definitely want to avoid any lighting that makes your car resemble an emergency vehicle.
Maybe you’ve rushed out of your house on a cold winter morning only to find your car covered in snow. If you were running late for work, you may have been tempted to remove just enough snow and ice so you could see out of your windshield and maybe some other windows. But not finishing the job by taking the snow off of the roof and hood could get you fined in  New Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Maine. This is because an ice sheet could come off and strike another vehicle, causing a serious accident.
Driving habits you probably think are illegal, but they’re not
Do you like the freedom of driving unbound by shoes while you feel the dirty gas pedal against the skin of your uncovered sole? Neither do we. Driving barefoot seems like it would be uncomfortable, kind of smelly in some cases, and most of all, unsafe — so much so that it should be illegal. But it isn’t. Not a single state outlaws barefoot driving.
Remember your dad or mom freaking out during nighttime road trips any time you dared to turn on the dome light, as if you had done something that could get the whole family killed? Yeah, it turns out that’s not illegal either. Mom and Dad were freaking out over nothing.
Those stop signs inside parking lots look pretty official. Surely you could get ticketed for running one of those, right? No, not always. In California, for example, the vehicle code applies only to “highways”, or public streets and roads, not private property, unless there’s a sign stating that the vehicle code is enforced there. We should note that this applies to stop signs inside the parking lot, not the one where the lot exits onto the street.
But before you head to the parking lot of your local supermarket to practice your stunt driving, there are some things you should know. Laws vary from location to location. And you can still get ticketed just about anywhere for things like reckless driving and parking in a handicapped spot. Besides, just because you can’t get a ticket for something doesn’t make it safe.
Remember, nothing you’ve read here constitutes legal advice. Research the laws where you live, obey stop signs wherever they are, and most of all, drive safely.
