Crazy driving laws in your state or country

Here is what we posted for California in that other thread ...

The thing about these California laws that gets me is that no other state has them ... so you start to wonder ... and when you find out that the laws greatly benefit the services that are mandated, you begin to wonder yet again.

Over time, living in California, you realize all these laws are merely a ploy to take money out of your pocket and give it to whomever it was that lobbied for the mandate.

Case in point: x) California has a law that you can't teach your kid to drive UNTIL you allow a perfect stranger to spend two hours with them teaching them to drive. Only then can you teach them to drive (until they are 17.5 years of age).

a) California has a smog law that you randomly get a notice that you MUST go to an inspection-only station for your smog test. Guess what? They run the EXACT same test. Guess what else? They ALL charge MORE for that same test! Why? Because you have no choice. It's mandated. Seems to me it 'should' be illegal for them to charge the person who came ahead of you X dollars for a smog test and then you go to the same place, the same guy, the same car, the same everything ... the ONLY difference is your registration requires a test only - and they charge you MORE for that!

b) California has a carbon monoxide detector law that mandates you must have one on ever floor (essentially) of every house in the state. Who sponsored the law? Home Depot. Guess why.

c) California had a law called the 'smog impact fee' where they charged me $300 just for bringing my out-of-state-car into the state. Why? Because they needed money. Luckily this law was considered a tax on out of state imports and was deemed unconstitutional - but the only reason for the law, despite the fancy name, was to raise money from outsiders moving into the state.

d) California has a law that you have to pay TAX on your car every single year! Not once but every year! I do realize 'other' states have that law

- but it's crazy. Why should you pay sales tax on this when you don't pay sales tax every year on, say, a bicycle. Makes no sense other than California wants your money.

e) California has the highest gasoline tax in the nation. So, the natives 'think' they're getting away with 'free' roads (i.e., they think they don't have toll roads), yet they're paying more per mile in taxes than any other state in the nation.

f) California has a law that you can only buy a car in California. You can't buy a new car, which they define as ANY car that has less than 7500 miles on it, and bring it into the state, even if it meets all the standards. You have to ship it out on a truck if you don't follow this law (or it will be confiscated). Why? Guess.

g) California has a law that says you can only buy gasoline made in California. That gasoline is 'special' gasoline. Made 'only' in California. Why? Again, so the lobby interests that made this law can make money by jerking around with the supply and demand curve.

h) California has a law that your head isn't protected if you're over 18 on a bicycle but if you're under 18, you must wear a helmet, as if your head is more fragile when it's under 18 years of age.

And the list goes on and on and on in the nanny state.

One weird law I find is that in New York state, you can't transport more than 25 gallons of fuel in your trunk or pickup bed ... but in California, that limit is 600 pounds (yes pounds) of gasoline (not including the gas tank of the vehicle).

Another weird law is that the state of California prohibits putting the GPS on the windshield (except in the far passenger side corner, which nobody on the planet would do).

Moe somewhere less oppressive then, like Mexico, it's just down the road.

1. Driving more than 75 or 80 mph on most interstates is considered reckless driving
2. Radar Detectors are illegal (it's the only state in the country where this is the case ...)

Virginia has banned radar detectors for years.

The first time I hired a car in Los Angeles, I took my own satnav with me (loaded with USA maps). The man at the check-out post told me about the California state law when he saw the satnav mounted just below the interior mirror. I moved it over to the top left and have never had any trouble from the CHP on that or any of my several subsequent trips there.

I suppose that what I really need is one of those little sandbag efforts like the car-hire firms give you with a rented GPS. Mind you, they charge $15 a day for a GPS, meaning that a two week holiday costs $210 extra...

Driving in Los Angeles, Orange County or the San Francisco bay area without a satnav would be foolhardy, IMHO. But once out of those areas and on the more rural parts of the interstate, it's just like anywhere else. Driving to Las Vegas, for instance, doesn't require GPS.

Do you really mount it just below the interior mirror? FFS. Talk about a distraction!

What we need over here are laws that will keep the crazies off the streets.

Yes. It's quite a normal place to mount a satnav, being both visible and reachable and close enough to be able to run the charging cable into the cigar-lighter socket.

Look about you as you drive around. You will find that it is the most often seen location for a removable satnav.

A few weeks ago, company picnic, satnav tried to tell me to drive in the "will destroy your tires" exit at the park lol. Good job as usual, Microsoft Sync! I admit, it has done a good job for me in SF. But it blows donkeys out in the Sierras, where you could be the next

. Not so sure I agree with that about LV, man, you get out in the desert, you could drive miles in the wrong direction.

jg

:-) What? On I15?

Those errors are common across all the different nav units. Things change between the time the software is written or the research isn't done to verify items. That is why I keep updating map sites as much as possible. I also trust ME more than any chunk of hardware.

The Kims made several serious mistakes that were not the fault of their GPS. Even if it had been summer and they had not gotten lost, the excellent road US-199 is the fastest way from Medford to Gold Beach. You can admire James Kim's courage in going out for help without admiring his judgement.

-- Patrick

All that tells me is that there are a lot of stupid people about.

I mount mine right down at the base of the windscreeen, well out of my eyeline, where it can't reflect off anything or my glasses, doesn't shine in my face and listen to the thing far more than look at it.

:-) yeah, if you are unfamiliar with it and get back on on the wrong ramp, 'specially at night or in a storm. Back roads, everything looks the same. One time I decided to follow a large scale map to a picnic area, figuring if a road is on that scale it must be passable, maybe check out Scotty's Castle on the way to Vegas. Great double-takes at the Lincoln I had at the time from people in jeeps way out on some jeep trail between Trona and Death Valley. Now, this isn't a big deal for me, since I have experience with desert survival and such (and kept supplies in my car because I was commuting SD to LV monthly), but every year some tourist needs to be rescued out in Death Valley.

What's up with German tourists and the desert? And I've been on 15 when you can't even see lines on the road, much less actual signs.

jg

I refuse to pay Bill Gates $200 a year to update something that has already proven worse than useless in the most necessary situation, especially without being able to verify it will fix what it has already done wrong. $600 saved so far, and I'm pretty sure I'll ignore the next marketing memo I should be getting soon. With that money, I could get an iPad and google street view.

I did grant that it did good in SF. I'm pretty sure I'm in some tourist's picture driving down Lombard Street, with my hands on my head and a look of terror on my face "OMIGODWEREALLGONNADIE" lol. Well, at least my kids appreciate my sense of humor.

jg

Arklin K. said

Bed wetting liberal democrats. Nuff said...

Yeah, I was going to write "next Donner Party" but something about verisimilitude made me reference that instead. I've been miserably cold in snow in the wilderness, it makes you want to just lay down and die. I can't even imagine what it must be like being unprepared for it.

jg

In NY and at least one or two other eastern states, they mandate that you MUST have your headlights on anytime you use your wipers.