Is it legal to...?

[hbelkins]

https://www.justpark.com/creative/is-it-illegal/

Covers a few topics we have discussed such as funeral processions, left lane hogs and a few other items.

And now I know why Ohio drivers behave the way they do. Their annoying behavior is not illegal in their home state.

[GCrites]

^Yeah, I hate that's it's not illegal to be an LLB here.

[Jardine]

In Iowa, it's my understanding it's legal statewide to drive on state and county roads in an ATV while traveling between fields you own or rent for farming.

County by county, you may be allowed to drive elsewhere in your ATV.  My county currently does not allow it, although it's common knowledge if you're on a county gravel (or worse) road you're not going to have any problems with the sheriff or deputies since they hate getting their cars dirty.

I think golf cart legality is up to each municipality. 

[GCrites]

WV allows quads on all non-striped roads.

[wanderer2575]

Interesting that it says Michigan is one of six states prohibiting driving too slowly in the passing lane.  About a half-dozen or so years ago, MDOT erected "Keep Right Pass Left / It's The Law" signs along I-96 on the western side of the state but they disappeared shortly thereafter.  I assumed some legal beagle had determined MDOT got a little too overzealous, but this website says that's not so.  (And if a website says so then it must be true, right?)

[SD Mapman]

Being from one of the left-lane hog states, I'm not bothered by that at all (although, to be fair, we don't have any traffic either...).

[Revive 755]

The site seems to be incorrect on passing funeral processions in Illinois.
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=062500050K11-1420

d) The operator of a vehicle not in a funeral procession may overtake and pass the vehicles in such procession if such overtaking and passing can be accomplished without causing a traffic hazard or interfering with such procession.

[hbelkins]

Kentucky only allows ATVs to be ridden on public highways for distances of 1/4 miles or less. We have an epidemic of people getting killed in ATV wrecks on highways, yet our Office of Highway Safety seems more interested in people talking on their phones, and I have yet to see one documented instance of a person in Kentucky being killed in a car wreck because they were talking on their cell phone.

[Zeffy]

Driving too slowly in the left lane may be illegal in NJ, but it doesn't seem like police give a crap about the ones going under the speed limit in the left lane. You know, like trucks who, along with other trucks, create a barrier in which no other cars may pass. Happens all the time on US 1.

[jeffandnicole]

Driving too slowly in the left lane may be illegal in NJ, but it doesn't seem like police give a crap about the ones going under the speed limit in the left lane. You know, like trucks who, along with other trucks, create a barrier in which no other cars may pass. Happens all the time on US 1.

Yet, nearly 40,000 tickets are issued each year for this violation in NJ!

[bzakharin]

I badly damaged my *rear* bumper in an accident in PA (I believe the law is the same as the front bumper). The cop involved in my case took it off and let me go. I asked him specifically if I am allowed to drive like this. He just said "the car works, doesn't it?" Good thing I didn't run into another cop who thought otherwise.

[GCrites]

Was it the whole bumper or just the cover? If you still have all the structure there you probably aren't illegal anywhere. I doubt bumper laws have changed anywhere since the advent of separate covers.

[US 41]

I have yet to see one documented instance of a person in Kentucky being killed in a car wreck because they were talking on their cell phone.

Texting should be illegal, because you have to take your eyes off the road to do it. However I think talking on the phone should be legal. You don't really have to take your eyes off the road when you are doing it except maybe to dial, answer and/or hang up. On the trip I recently took I talked on the phone quite a bit when I had a signal, mainly because I was by myself and wanted to talk to someone.

[Duke87]

I find the driving while barefoot item odd. This isn't the first time I've heard it said you shouldn't do this, but I've done it from time to time (can be pleasant on a hot summer day) and don't see anything wrong with it other than it perhaps being against social convention.

Of course, I can see why I don't have a problem with it while others might. There apparently is some speculation that it may make it more likely for your feet to slip off the pedals. I would believe that to be true if you drive barefoot and flatfoot. But when I drive barefoot, I curl my toes around the top of the pedal so I have a grip on it. Not a problem for me.

Texting should be illegal, because you have to take your eyes off the road to do it. However I think talking on the phone should be legal. You don't really have to take your eyes off the road when you are doing it except maybe to dial, answer and/or hang up. On the trip I recently took I talked on the phone quite a bit when I had a signal, mainly because I was by myself and wanted to talk to someone.

Ultimately I think this varies considerably from person to person. I refuse to talk on the phone while driving at all, even hands free, because I find even that unacceptably distracting.

But, talking on the phone is a task that requires intense concentration for me, to the point where I can't perform even basic tasks at normal functional level while on the phone. I know this to be unusual and would believe that some people can talk on the phone while driving without it being a huge issue, certainly hands free if not handheld.

Alas, the group of people who do it is not limited to the group of people who can do it without it causing issues. Hence why we can't have nice things.

[cpzilliacus]

Ultimately I think this varies considerably from person to person. I refuse to talk on the phone while driving at all, even hands free, because I find even that unacceptably distracting.

I do not do it frequently, with these exceptions - to report road hazards and crashes (if I think it is unreported) and to report traffic issues to WTOP Radio. Otherwise, generally not.  And no texting. I pull over and stop in a legal place if I need to text.

But, talking on the phone is a task that requires intense concentration for me, to the point where I can't perform even basic tasks at normal functional level while on the phone. I know this to be unusual and would believe that some people can talk on the phone while driving without it being a huge issue, certainly hands free if not handheld.

Alas, the group of people who do it is not limited to the group of people who can do it without it causing issues. Hence why we can't have nice things.

Would you use your phone while driving to report a 911-type situation (such a crash with injuries or a fire)?

[Pete from Boston]

I think "What if it were 9/11?" does not really usefully inform day-to-day practice.  I'm sure I am not alone in failing to account for all the judgements I made that day.  Hopefully I will never need to make them again.

I drove barefoot a short ways several times this summer, far enough to get from the beach to a place I could rinse the sand off my feet.  Having known someone who was in a car accident while barefoot, I have reason to believe one can be cited for this in Mass.  I'll provide my personal info by PM if anyone feels the need to turn me in.

[froggie]

Would you use your phone while driving to report a 911-type situation (such a crash with injuries or a fire)?

A very moot question, since it's HIGHLY likely someone facing that situation would be pulled over and not driving.

[1995hoo]

I think "What if it were 9/11?" does not really usefully inform day-to-day practice.  I'm sure I am not alone in failing to account for all the judgements I made that day.  Hopefully I will never need to make them again.

I drove barefoot a short ways several times this summer, far enough to get from the beach to a place I could rinse the sand off my feet.  Having known someone who was in a car accident while barefoot, I have reason to believe one can be cited for this in Mass.  I'll provide my personal info by PM if anyone feels the need to turn me in.

I think "911" referred to the emergency phone number and not the day in 2001.

I've driven barefoot on occasion, most notably in 1993 on a beach trip when I'd sunburned my feet so badly they blistered and wearing shoes felt hellish. Most of my friends couldn't drive the 5-speed, so I drove barefoot. It was no big deal, but I can see how slamming on the brakes could be a problem.

[vdeane]

Given the post, I'm pretty sure CPZ meant "nine one one", not "nine eleven".  Unless terrorists are now using car crashes.

[Pete from Boston]

Given the post, I'm pretty sure CPZ meant "nine one one", not "nine eleven".  Unless terrorists are now using car crashes.

You're right.  I read it quickly.

[Sykotyk]

In my personal experience, the only accident I was at fault for was talking to my passenger in the passenger seat. I looked over at them and didn't realize approaching a red light (slowly) that the car in front stopped well short of the car in front of them and tapped their bumper, 5mph accident, $800 in damages).

Though, I've talked on my phone for countless hours, usually with a bluetooth headset, sometimes speakerphone, and rarely ever holding the handheld (though illegal most places now). I do have a new car with a built in bluetooth, which I like.

However, talking on the phone is entirely easier and less stressful than an animated conversation with a passenger. Not even arguments. Just getting into a discussion, you have this odd mental tic to look at the person you're talking to while on a phone there is no such need.

The big issue with talking on the phone is some people don't seem to understand that phone use is and always will be a secondary. They elevate the conversation above their primary responsibility. No different than those eating sloppy sandwiches, burritos, etc, while driving, driving with pets roaming the interior of their car, sitting on their laps (ever had a poodles head propelled through your chest by an airbag? Drive with one on your lap to find out.), etc.

A lot of driving is just common sense and not driving beyond your ability or comfort zone. And too many people think that because their speedometer can do 100, they can do it safely. Or because others are, they can. Or because they've done before, they can do today, though conditions dictate a slower speed.

[cpzilliacus]

Given the post, I'm pretty sure CPZ meant "nine one one", not "nine eleven".  Unless terrorists are now using car crashes.

I did.  As an aside, I was doing field work in Arlington County, Virginia on the morning of 2001-09-11, but not all that close to the Pentagon.

Over the years, I have used 911  a few times to report crashes with injury, when it was reasonably clear that they had not yet been called-in (on freeways in Maryland and Viriginia I will call #77 for crashes, since those are generally state police responsibility, and they will call for Fire/EMS). 

Once called 911 in D.C. to report a serious crash outside my office window, and they did not (!) answer (yes, it was during the final term of the late former Mayor-for-Life of the District of Columbia).  So I hung up and called the U.S. Capitol Police, who have concurrent jurisdiction on the streets around my office.  They answered on one ring and called the Metropolitan Police Department (the D.C. municipal police agency) and D.C. Fire/EMS on their direct line between the two.  The Capitol police were there in seconds, it took much longer for MPD to respond, even though there were near-fatal injuries.

I once discovered a murder in Montgomery County, Maryland; but did not call 911, since there was pretty clearly no need for an emergency response, so I called the police non-emergency line, and a pair of uniformed cops showed up quickly, followed by a much larger response once they had arrived and confirmed that it was indeed a homicide.

[1995hoo]

It's funny, I find talking on the phone (which I don't do often while driving, but when I do it's always via Bluetooth as I consider using a handheld phone with a manual shift to be inherently unsafe) to be more distracting than talking to a passenger, even if I'm arguing with the passenger. I think it's because the passenger can see the road and react to it, such as shutting up when appropriate, while the person on the other end of the phone cannot.

The car I drive most often has built-in Bluetooth and voice-control, but talking on the phone for any length of time still gets distracting.

[bzakharin]

The big issue with talking on the phone is some people don't seem to understand that phone use is and always will be a secondary. They elevate the conversation above their primary responsibility. No different than those eating sloppy sandwiches, burritos, etc, while driving, driving with pets roaming the interior of their car, sitting on their laps (ever had a poodles head propelled through your chest by an airbag? Drive with one on your lap to find out.), etc.

This is exactly it. There are times when driving requires a bit of extra attention that I end up zoning out on the phone conversation and having to ask for the person on the other end to repeat. Either that or I start reading overhead signs out loud into the phone. This is with built-in bluetooth, of course. More often than not the person on the other end hangs up if this happens several times or goes on too long.

[GCrites]

I once discovered a murder in Montgomery County, Maryland;

That must have been awful.