weird fines when driving

[Ken Gargett]

hate to think how many of these i might have committed - well, the horn one would send me bankrupt.

i remember watching an idiot driving on the highway with a mccaw crawling from shoulder to head. a very big mccaw. the following day, on the same highway, i could not work out what the woman next to me was doing. she was by herself but kept disappearing. ducking below window level. finally worked out she was making her lunch on the seat next to her - cutting bread and tomatoes and so on - on the seat next to her. while driving. unbelievable. 

my fave was a friend - did not know her at the time - who picked me up at the lisbon airport. she was my driver (and pr person extrordinaire for amorin). first clue it would be a tough week was on the way to the city from the airport when i saw people taking pics and vids of us. my friend was screaming at the traffic, all of which was coming at us. we were clearly on the wrong side of the road. she mentioned she had not been driving for 6 months and they must have changed the traffic direction (not sure about that). i asked why no driving. 6 months in hospital. turns out she'd had a very bad car accident. no surprise. a few days later, on the way to oporto, she had her work mobile, her personal mobile and was conducting calls on both while driving. she was also talking to me and trying to put on make-up. it is times like that one does start to think that perhaps we do have a higher power (touch wood) looking down. 

 

Next time you're rolling through your local drive-thru, be sure to keep this obscure rule in mind. Because it's a shocker if you're caught out.

As the great Aussie road trip becomes the holiday of choice this summer, it's important to be across all the things you can and can't do while driving. Because one thing is for sure: a fine is a total holiday buzz-kill. There's a long list of obscure laws many Australians haven't heard of – and often, they differ from state to state ...

 

1. Throwing apple cores and banana peels out of the car window

Sure, they're biodegradable, but you can still be fined for littering. In Queensland, the crime of "dropping injurious matter on a road" can cost you $533 and two demerit points.

 

 

2. Improper use of a horn

Some motorists only seem to use their horns improperly. But honking goodbye to your family as you drive off after dinner, or beeping at the car who just cut you off is actually illegal. Officially, you're only supposed to use your horn if you're warning other road users (or animals) of your approach. In the past five years, more than 800 people have been fined for improper use of a horn in NSW.

 

 

 

3. Not winding up your windows

In Queensland, if you're more than three metres away from your car, your windows need to be up with a gap no greater than 5cm. It may sound trivial, but people have been fined for this.

 

 

4. Leaving your key in your ignition

You’ve most likely seen someone quickly ducking out of their car to get a coffee or pick up their takeaway dinner and leaving the car running with the key in the ignition. While it's convenient, it's not the smartest thing to leave your key in the ignition unattended - in NSW it’s a traffic offence which will cost an individual $114. Around 1,000 people a year receive this fine in NSW.

 

 

 

5. Using your phone to pay at a drive-thru

We all know the danger of using a mobile phone while driving, but what if you want to pay for your lunch at the drive-thru window with your phone? Turns out the law is strict and still applies to drivers who are stationary at a drive-thru. Depending on which state you’re in, you could be fined up to $534 and be at risk of losing up to five demerit points – that’s one costly meal. To avoid a fine you must have your engine switched off and your handbrake on before using your mobile phone.

 

 

 

6. Having people or animals on your lap

Children must always be seated in proper child restraints. Animals should be seated or restrained in an appropriate area of the vehicle. The RSPCA can also issue fines under The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. If an animal is injured because it was unrestrained, owners could face up to six months’ jail and fines of up to $5,500.

 

 

7. Not giving way to horses

It's actually illegal not to give way to a hard-to-control horse, or a horse that refuses to move. If a rider raises a hand and points to his or her horse, you must steer the car as far to the left as possible, turn off the engine and wait until the horse is far enough away that you're in no danger of startling it.

 

 

8. Attempting to speed up while you're being overtaken

As frustrating as it is, this is unfortunately a common behavioural trait that occurs on our roads when a person decides to accelerate as another driver attempts to overtake them. This behaviour constitutes another obscure traffic offence. Drivers engaging in this behaviour in NSW can incur a $344 fine and two demerit points, while in Victoria the fine is $330 and two demerit points.

 

 

 

9. Don't splash pedestrians

We've all seen it in the movies where pedestrians get intentionally splashed by drivers on a rainy day, and as entertaining as it may be in the moment, it's another traffic offence. However, in NSW, it's only a traffic offence to splash those who are waiting for a bus at a bus stop, but any other individual is exempt from this rule. So avoid those puddles - don’t risk the hefty $187 fine.

[Babalouie]

What if I toss an apple out my window while trying to feed a horse that’s sitting on the other driver’s lap?  Who’s getting the fine then??

[chris12381]

Why would one have to roll their windows up to leave a gap of no more than 5cm?  Is this a fine to encourage the vehicle owner to prevent the theft of their vehicle?   

[Paladin865]

Is there a fine for flipping the finger instead of beeping the horn?

[PigFish]

... you guys should all be fined for driving on the wrong side of the road! -Piggy

[Ken Gargett]

4 minutes ago, PigFish said:

... you guys should all be fined for driving on the wrong side of the road! -Piggy

ray, if we drive on the wrong side of the road, we are fined. fortunately, we stick to the right side. which is of course the left side. 

[Fuzz]

We drive on the correct side of the road, the left side of the road.

[Bijan]

23 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

ray, if we drive on the wrong side of the road, we are fined. fortunately, we stick to the right side. which is of course the left side. 

So you are fined for literally driving on the right side of the road.

Which is of course not the right side of the road, but the wrong side of the road. The right side of the road being the left side.

Got it

[mprach024]

Who invented the auto, where do they drive?

Who invented roads, where did they ride?

Who invented the highway/interstate, where do they drive?

*shrugs*

[Ken Gargett]

19 minutes ago, mprach024 said:

Who invented the auto, where do they drive?

Who invented roads, where did they ride?

Who invented the highway/interstate, where do they drive?

*shrugs*

sorry, who invented roads? i assume neanderthals used well worn tracks. does that count? 

but you are correct, of course (i do not say right, in case we confuse some). i believe that it was the englishman, samuel brown, who first used the internal combustion engine for transport, back in 1823. hence, the world should be following the poms on this. 

 

[Bijan]

5 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

sorry, who invented roads? i assume neanderthals used well worn tracks. does that count? 

but you are correct, of course (i do not say right, in case we confuse some). i believe that it was the englishman, samuel brown, who first used the internal combustion engine for transport, back in 1823. hence, the world should be following the poms on this. 

 

Always odd that the convention for escalators though is to stand on the right and let people pass on the left. I believe this is due to the design of the original escalators.

But apparently in Australia you stand on the left and walk on the right.

I guess we should ask who invented escalators

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalator_etiquette

[mprach024]

4 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

sorry, who invented roads? i assume neanderthals used well worn tracks. does that count? 

but you are correct, of course (i do not say right, in case we confuse some). i believe that it was the englishman, samuel brown, who first used the internal combustion engine for transport, back in 1823. hence, the world should be following the poms on this. 

 

Lol

[mprach024]

6 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

sorry, who invented roads? i assume neanderthals used well worn tracks. does that count? 

but you are correct, of course (i do not say right, in case we confuse some). i believe that it was the englishman, samuel brown, who first used the internal combustion engine for transport, back in 1823. hence, the world should be following the poms on this. 

 

That’s a stretch Kenny! Neanderthals?  ??

Gonna let you have that one even if you know you’re wrong.  Lol

[Ken Gargett]

3 hours ago, mprach024 said:

That’s a stretch Kenny! Neanderthals?  ??

Gonna let you have that one even if you know you’re wrong.  Lol

i was going to use the kangaroo rat as an example, as they build paths so they can escape predators but i thought some may think that a stretch. or look to places such as when the okavango floods and the hippos make 'roads' to travel throughout. which are then used by everything from fish to crocs. 

the point was that no one invented roads. i suspect that we have been making them, in some form or other, since we first climbed out of the trees (long after the kangaroo rats were building their roads). 

[mprach024]

1 minute ago, Ken Gargett said:

i was going to use the kangaroo rat as an example, as they build paths so they can escape predators but i thought some may think that a stretch. or look to places such as when the okavango floods and the hippos make 'roads' to travel throughout. which are then used by everything from fish to crocs. 

the point was that no one invented roads. i suspect that we have been making them, in some form or other, since we first climbed out of the trees (long after the kangaroo rats were building their roads). 

I guess if you want to call “worn down paths from the frequent scurrying of critters” a road system, then I guess I can’t argue with that.?

I personally wouldn’t call those roads, as roads to me depicts a structured system of “purpose built surfaces” designed for travel via some sort of transportation.  Wagons, carriages, cars, buses, bikes, etc. I wouldn’t call the fairway on a golf hole a road, nor would I call the Okavango herds as road travelers.  Now if a wildebeest or zebra started grading and preparing the path they follow to better suit their needs, I’d agree with you.  But alas, the first that I’m aware of that built a road system were the Romans.

....and the Roman carriages went on the right.  ?

[Bijan]

6 minutes ago, mprach024 said:

But alas, the first that I’m aware of that built a road system were the Romans.

I believe the Persians had some sort of road system.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Road

"The Greek historian Herodotus wrote, "There is nothing in the world that travels faster than these Persian couriers." Herodotus's praise for these messengers—"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"— was inscribed on the James Farley Post Office in New York and is sometimes thought of as the United States Postal Service creed."

[mprach024]

Interesting find.  Of course you do search Google for a living so you are amazing at finding facts?.  If you read the body though it mentions in there that it was the Romans that later built the surface using gravel.  Guess it depends on what you want to call a road, or a path.

[SirVantes]

56 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

 

the point was that no one invented roads. i suspect that we have been making them, in some form or other, since we first climbed out of the trees (long after the kangaroo rats were building their roads). 

I'd like to nominate holloways - sunken lanes dating back to the Iron Age.  Possibly created by a combination of natural erosion and human traffic ie. no one invented them.

[Meklown]

Why is it that the value of the fines seem so completely random? $533? $114? Did they start at some point then got adjusted according to inflation? 

[Ken Gargett]

2 hours ago, Meklown said:

Why is it that the value of the fines seem so completely random? $533? $114? Did they start at some point then got adjusted according to inflation? 

you do realise that you are asking us to make sense of govt/bureaucrats and their decisions. 

[MrBirdman]

The Romans invented roads, all leading to their capital. The Italians are still exhausted from the effort. 
 

Here in Pennsylvania we drive on the side of the road without potholes. 

[Squarehead]

4 hours ago, MrBirdman said:

The Romans invented roads, all leading to their capital. The Italians are still exhausted from the effort. 
 

Here in Pennsylvania we drive on the side of the road without potholes. 

Same here in Ontario

[Fugu]

14 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

i was going to use the kangaroo rat as an example, as they build paths so they can escape predators but i thought some may think that a stretch. or look to places such as when the okavango floods and the hippos make 'roads' to travel throughout. which are then used by everything from fish to crocs. 

the point was that no one invented roads. i suspect that we have been making them, in some form or other, since we first climbed out of the trees (long after the kangaroo rats were building their roads). 

Roads or not, always like your examples, Mr. Attenborough !

As we are at it, macaw ?, Ken. Only you, fine Sir, custodian of the word, shall I ever dare to correct a spelling ? 

[Ken Gargett]

1 hour ago, Fugu said:

Roads or not, always like your examples, Mr. Attenborough !

As we are at it, macaw ?, Ken. Only you, fine Sir, custodian of the word, shall I ever dare to correct a spelling ? 

i am truly mortified and i thank you for your attention to such details. 

i suspect that i have had a different mccaw, the rugby variety, cause too many sleepless nights. 

[El Presidente]

1 hour ago, Fugu said:

As we are at it, macaw ?, Ken. Only you, fine Sir, custodian of the word, shall I ever dare to correct a spelling ? 

Fugu....you are now the clear leader of our "Member of the Month" award