Driving under the influence...of crazy laws

The week between Christmas and New Year's Day is vacation time for many people, but I worked that week (half-days only, though, since my son and his girlfriend were in town). It's actually not a bad time to be at work - since so many people aren't there, it's quieter and often more productive. And since so many people aren't off to work, they're off the road too, and the commute is...well, almost fun, or at the very least, nearly stress-free. Since my traffic complaints are pretty familiar around here, it's nice to go for a few days without any - almost like a vacation in itself.

And on that topic, my dear husband - official source for all things car- and-driver-related - pointed me to this article about traffic laws from all over the country. Now, I'd known that in California a driver can be ticketed for driving too slowly, but in practical terms, it's not something one sees very often when gridlock keeps everyone going less than 15 miles per hour; that makes it difficult to single out anyone. But it turns out that driving too slowly is also illegal in several other states, including Florida. I spent my first six years as a licensed driver in the Tampa Bay area, and trust me, this isn't a law that's heavily enforced there either, so stay out of the right lane on city streets as much as possible or you will never get anywhere! However, let's return to California for a minute, where the speed limit for vehicles without a driver is 60 MPH.

There's some good driver info in the article, but my favorite part of it is the just plain crazy traffic laws, via Dumblaws.com (a site that looks well worth further perusal, incidentally), such as these:

In Florida, if an elephant, goat or alligator is left tied to a parking meter, the parking fee has to be paid just as it would for a vehicle.

In Montana, it is illegal to have a sheep in the cab of your truck without a chaperone.

In Oregon, a door on a car may not be left open longer than necessary.

In Tennessee, it is illegal shoot any game other than whales from a moving automobile.

I lived in Tennessee for ten years. You're not even going to find a whale at the Tennessee Aquarium, let alone while driving down I-40. If you want to make sure you're in compliance with the state laws, you'd better get your roadkill the old-fashioned way.

And on a serious driving-law note, don't drink and drive! Even though we're a few days past New Year's Eve, that one's always enforceable.