12 Of The Strangest Driving Laws You’ll Find In The United States

Anyone who’s driven for a couple years probably feels like they know everything to being on the road. Don’t speed. Stop at stop signs. Don’t text and drive (bearing in mind there are plenty of ways to help you stay off your phone while in a car). 

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Every law is designed to keep you and others on the road safe. It may feel like an inconvenience sometimes, but it’s for the best — until you start learning about all of the bizarre laws your state undoubtedly has about vehicles. For instance, in New Jersey it’s illegal for people to pump their own gas. The wording of the law is actually in the interest of public safety to make sure an attendant who knows what they’re doing has control over the fuel. 

That’s the case for a lot of the weird driving laws on this list. They may have made sense at a certain point, but now, they’re just downright bizarre. Whether or not the cops will actually enforce some of these laws in their given states is another matter entirely, but it helps to know what you can get in trouble for. 

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At some point in your driving life, someone has made you so angry the only response you could muster is honking your horn. It’s important to remember that in Little Rock, Arkansas, as it’s illegal to do so after 9 pm near certain establishments. Here’s what Code 1961 25-74 has to say: “No person shall sound the horn on a vehicle at any place where cold drinks or sandwiches are served after 9:00 p.m.”

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A law against honking a horn after 9 pm makes some sense. There are plenty of laws against being too loud during specific hours, and car horns can be pretty loud. It’s the part about doing so near sandwich shops that’s a little odd. Cold drinks are also part of the equation, and call us crazy but most restaurants probably have at least a couple of cold beverages on the menu. The law’s likely designed to avoid people getting too rowdy near establishments where people might frequent later in the evening. So if someone cuts you off near a Jersey Mike’s in Little Rock, you’ll have to wait until you’re a bit further down the road to vent your frustrations. 

Honking isn’t the only road rage staple. You may find yourself saying terrible things to another human being because they dared to merge into your lane a little too close to your car. It’s best to keep such language to yourself if you’re driving in Rockville, Maryland, as it’s a misdemeanor to curse someone out on the road. 

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Section 13-53 of the Rockville Code of Ordinances reads: “A person may not profanely curse and swear or use obscene language upon or near any street, sidewalk or highway within the hearing of persons passing by, upon or along such street, sidewalk or highway.” 

Granted, this shouldn’t really be an issue for most drivers as long as their windows are rolled up. The caveat is that you swear within hearing distance of other people on streets and highways. As far as we can tell, there’s no law against mouthing curse words, so you’re safe there. Still, if you’re on a bike, you’re at a greater risk of running afoul of the law.

If there’s any part of your vehicle you’d expect to be dirty, it’s the tires. They regularly come into contact with whatever’s on the street, and that’s not even getting into the folks you enjoy off-roading. However, in Minnetonka, Minnesota, it’s best to keep your tires clean as you drive around town. The Minnetonka Code of Ordinances section 845.010 states the following as a public nuisance: “A truck or other vehicle whose wheels or tires deposit mud, dirt, sticky substances, litter or other material on any street or highway.” 

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Naturally, no city wants you dragging garbage around the streets with you, although dirt can be a little trickier to deal with. It seems clear this ordinance is in place to prevent local streets from getting too dirty, and more than likely, it only applies to excessively dirty tires, like ones that just drove through mud. Whether they’re filthy are just need a touch-up, it never hurts to learn how to properly deep clean tires and rims.

Having a car horn is an immense responsibility, so many cities have statutes about when and where you can use it. University City, Missouri has the amusing law that to honk someone else’s horn. You can honk your own (within reason), but keep your hands to yourself otherwise. 

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This may initially conjure an image of reaching over your car into someone else’s vehicle to honk their horn. Perhaps you are riding as someone’s passenger, and you think they’re a little too meek, so you feel compelled to honk their horn for them. In actuality, it probably more relates to borrowing someone else’s car (or even renting a vehicle) and using that horn. Of course, this seems almost impossible to enforce because the police wouldn’t inherently know that car isn’t yours just by you honking. Even if the law just gets people to think twice about honking, we suppose it’s doing its job. 

On the surface, this Texas law sounds perfectly reasonable. The transportation code section 547.603 states: “A motor vehicle shall be equipped with a device that is operated or controlled by the operator of the vehicle and that cleans moisture from the windshield. The device shall be maintained in good working condition.” In essence, drivers are required to have operational windshield wipers at all times, which makes sense. If it rains, you need to be able to see out of your windshield. However, that’s when we get into the oddity of the law. 

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Texas law actually doesn’t require cars to have windshields at all, but by the way the law is expressed, they would still need the wipers or else risk getting in trouble. Not all four-wheel vehicles necessarily need windshields, as plenty of Jeeps can be used without them — but make sure those windshield wipers are ready to go!

There are probably just as many laws about how to park as there are how to drive. You should know never to park next to a fire hydrant, but for residents of South Berwick, Maine, they also need to be aware to steer clear of the Dunkin’ Donuts on Main Street. No seriously — the law specifically calls out Dunkin’ by name. 

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It sounds silly, but it all appears to be an effort to reduce traffic congestion, and when you look at the area, there actually are no parking spots directly in front of the store. Perhaps the town had trouble with people parking there anyway just to run in to grab a coffee and a maple frosted doughnut. There’s also a school nearby that probably gets crowded first thing in the morning, too, and the town doesn’t want people hindering parents’ ability to drop their kids off in a timely fashion. So if you want Dunkin’ before work, you’ll need to use the drive-thru lest you risk getting a ticket. 

Contrary to popular belief, it’s actually legal to drive barefoot in all 50 states, not just Georgia. However, the Peach State does have a law specifically requiring motorcyclists to wear proper footwear, as Section40-6-311 of the Code of Georgia states: “No person shall operate or ride upon a motorcycle unless he shall wear some type of footwear in addition to or other than socks.”

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Still, just because you can drive barefoot doesn’t necessarily mean you should. In the event you wind up in an accident and it’s determined you were barefoot, the other party and insurance agencies could claim you engaged in reckless behavior that contributed to the crash. A good pair of shoes will help provide enough traction so that you can operate the accelerator and brakes properly. If you do need to drive barefoot because it feels safer than flip-flops or high heels, you should put that footwear in the backseat so that there’s no risk of your footwear interfering with the pedals. 

Which of us hasn’t picked up drive-thru, eaten it in the car, and then left it there until we got back home? It can definitely be gross if it’s left there too long, but Hilton Head, South Carolina has gone the extra mile to ensure people don’t leave anything in their cars. It falls under the Health & Sanitation section 9-1-114, specifying: “It shall be unlawful for any person to place, leave, dump or permit to accumulate any garbage, rubbish or trash in any building, vehicle and their surrounding areas in the town so that the same shall or may afford food or harborage for rats.”

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No one wants rats scurrying around their cars, but to what extent can people leave trash? In addition to not accumulating garbage in vehicles, the law also mentions storing trash in buildings. How much waste can you keep in your trash can at home before it becomes a nuisance? It probably doesn’t need to be specified because the concept of “too much trash” is one of those things that you know when you see it. Still, it’s a good reminder to take those to-go bags out of your car sooner rather than later. 

Many strange driving laws throughout the United States probably made sense at one point, but as time has gone on, they’ve become irrelevant. With so many other things for politicians to do, they probably don’t have much of a need to repeal a law no one is breaking anyway. That’s why Nevada still has a law on the books preventing people from letting camels run loose on freeways. 

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Camels actually have an interesting history throughout the U.S. During the Civil War, Jefferson Davis, who was the Secretary of War at the time, wanted to use camels for the effort, but it didn’t really take. At that point, camels could be sold to civilians, and they were incredibly useful in Nevada since they were well-suited for the desert climate. They transported an array of cargo, but in 1875, they were banned from public roads in favor of railroads transporting items from here on out. It didn’t have much of an impact anyway as camels were already being phased out, but the law remains.

Oxford, Ohio must be incredibly proud of its town square and doesn’t want anyone ruining the vibes. It’s against the law in that town for anyone to spit on the sidewalk in the town square. It’s also illegal to drive 100 times in a single session through the town square. 

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The latter law seems a bit excessive. We understand the town square might be very pretty to look at, so perhaps after driving through, you want to circle back to check it out again. Still, we can’t really imagine a scenario where anyone would drive 100 times through the square without stopping even once. You’d really have to go out of your way to do that. What’s funny is that this means someone could theoretically drive through the town square 99 times and be perfectly fine. Not only that, but a cop would theoretically need to watch you circle the town square all 100 times to know you broke the law. 

Sometimes, it’s the strangest laws that unite people across the political aisle. In 2024, a new law in Virginia came into effect that allowed anyone to collect roadkill anytime of year to do — well, whatever they please with it. It’s not just Virginia getting more liberal with roadkill collection as other states have joined suit, and it seems to be a popular proposition. 

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It turns out that even the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has advocated for people consuming roadkill over store-bought meat because it doesn’t contain “antibiotics, hormones, and growth stimulants.” For others, a perk of allowing anyone to claim roadkill — while notifying authorities their plan to do so — is that it removes strain from Virginia’s Department of Transportation to exercise resources to remove the carcass themselves. 

Previously, people could only collect roadkill if they personally hit it, and it fell within hunting season. It’s more open game now, and if your state currently doesn’t allow anyone to pick up roadkill willy-nilly, that could very well change in the near future.

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There are numerous mistakes you can make when washing a car. However, anyone in Los Angeles has one more error to avoid making — don’t wash your neighbor’s car if they didn’t ask you. 

Los Angeles has an entire section in its ordinances devoted to car washing statutes, including section 80.74 which states that “No person shall dust, wipe, wash or otherwise clean, or use or employ any method of dusting, wiping, washing or otherwise cleaning, any vehicle or portion thereof while on any street unless such vehicle is owned by or under the direct control or supervision of the person doing any of the acts herein enumerated.” To be fair, this makes sense. You shouldn’t mess with stuff that isn’t yours; it’s just a little strange this needed to be spelled out in writing. 

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Did Los Angeles have an epidemic of people washing cars that weren’t theirs? It sounds like a nice thing to do, provided the person knows what they’re doing and doesn’t use dish soap to wash the vehicle, which could dull the paintwork. For Angelenos, keep your sponges to yourself and wash your own car.