Breaking the Law
Modern life is full of pitfalls when it comes to the law. You could be going about your business and then suddenly find yourself being questioned by police – albeit only in the most drastic of cases. But you want to be sure, so here are 13 things to avoid doing in America.
Driving With Snow on Your Car
This isn’t a problem in some states, but others have strict laws against it. The states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Illinois all don’t allow you to drive with snow on your car. Scrape it off before you go anywhere.
Gambling at Home
You can go to a casino any time you want to, but you might want to think twice before playing poker with your friends at home. Some states have laws stating that you can’t gamble on private property, and you could face a fine or worse.
Hosting a Movie Night
This sounds insane considering that DVDs exist, but it’s true. If you show one of your DVDs to you community group at their venue, for example, you could be breaking the law. Some places you can’t even show a film in your backyard.
Sharing Your Netflix Password
Once upon a time, Netflix based a lot of their marketing around sharing a password. But then they changed their minds, and now it’s illegal to share a password. Just don’t try and get round that by pirating movies on your computer! That’s also illegal.
Singing in Public
This one just sounds like companies are fighting to remove every scrap of joy from public life – and the Girl Scouts would agree. In 1996, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers demanded money from the Girl Scouts for singing “Macarena.”
Using Wi-Fi Without Permission
Always look up the laws in your state before joining a Wi-Fi network without permission. While chances are you won’t be prosecuted for doing it, the risk is always there. And don’t join a neighbor’s unsecured Wi-Fi network either… that will do nothing for neighborhood harmony.
Letting Your Pet Make Too Much Noise in Public
If your pet makes enough noise to frighten wildlife when you take it out on a walk, you could get into trouble. Always make sure your pet is properly behaved, because to be fair, valuable animals could die of fright if they think a predator is coming their way.
Falsely Reporting the Weather
The National Weather Service take themselves very, very seriously. If you publish a forecast and claim it’s from the National Weather Service when it’s not, you could be fined or even sent to prison. Yeah, it’s unlikely they’ll find out, but do you really want to risk it?
Selling Raw Milk Across State Lines
Raw milk is a political flashpoint in America for some reason, with lots of people insisting on drinking it even though it’s dangerous. That’s allowed, but what you can’t do is sell it across state lines. Plenty of people have gotten into trouble for this.
Falsely Using a Disability Parking Permit
It’s considered a pretty low move to take someone else’s disability parking permit and use it to park closer to the store. So if you’re disabled yourself, you might be relieved to find out that it’s actually illegal for someone to take your pass. They could spend six months in jail, even.
Hanging Things From a Rearview Mirror
Americans don’t mess around when it comes to car safety. Some states consider that hanging things off the rearview mirror constitutes a safety hazard, and you could face a fine for doing it. Yes, that includes those gloriously tacky fuzzy dice.
Photocopying a Textbook
With the price of textbooks being what it is these days, many people have illegally photocopied them. But that’s breaking copyright law, and could land them in serious trouble. You should only photocopy if you plan to use the copy for criticizing or “transforming” the work.
Riding in a Pickup Truck Bed
So many kids used to do this in the past… and so many kids died. Seriously, it’s dangerous, and there are rightly laws against it. Don’t let your kids (or adults for that matter) ride in the pickup truck bed, because in most states you’ll face serious consequences.
