Back when drive-time radio was a thing—prior to satellite radio and piping your playlist from the cloud out of your car's speakers—a popular feature was sharing weird laws that were still in effect but never repealed.
Most had become moot due to changes in technology of transportation or were addressing a very specific issue that was unlikely to be repeated.
Reddit user sixman4 asked:
"What is the weirdest law in the world?"
Keep It Clean
"The weirdest ENFORCED law: illegal to have a dirty car in public in Abu Dhabi (capital city of the United Arab Emirates) and also illegal to wash them in public."
"People routinely post about being fined thousands of dirhams (AED) for the same or even having their vehicles towed."
"The rationale is that dirty vehicles harm the image of the city."
~ inwarded_04
⭐️ Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) has a law that fines and impounds dirty cars:
Fine: The fine for leaving a dirty car on the street is AED 3,000 (USD 816).
Impoundment: If a car owner ignores repeated warnings, the vehicle will be impounded.
Early payment: If the penalty is paid within 30 days of the car being fined/seized, the owner only has to pay AED 1,500 (USD 408).
One Potato, Two Potato
"Apprentally in my state (Western Australia), you can't own more then 50kg (110lbs) of potatoes."
~ madeat1am
"It was to keep people from making and selling homemade potato vodka."
~ TheThalmorEmbassy
⭐️ Australia's potato law, which prohibited carrying more than 50 kilograms of potatoes in a vehicle, was repealed in May 2021. The law was part of the Marketing of Potatoes Act of 1946 and applied to all Australian states and territories.
Ice Cream Enticing
"Many of these kinds of laws were written in the 1800s and just never got repealed."
"For instance, a lot of cities/states created ordinances or laws against walking with an ice cream cone (or other alluring food) in your back pocket. Those were passed because people would do that to lure horses away to steal the horse."
"They knew the horse would follow the ice cream and they had 'plausible deniability' since they weren't technically stealing the horse, it just followed them away."
~ Porn_Extra
Poultry Publicity
"Gainesville, Georgia has an ordinance making it illegal to eat fried chicken with a knife and fork."
~ thetruesupergenius
⭐️ In 1961, the City of Gainesville adopted an ordinance that chicken is a delicacy that can only be eaten with your hands. The ordinance was put on the books as a publicity stunt to promote Gainesville as the Poultry Capital of the World.
Butter Them Up
"In Wisconsin, it is illegal for a restaurant to provide margarine instead of real butter, unless specifically requested by the customer."
~ 2geek2bcool
⭐️ Wisconsin has a few laws regarding butter and margarine, including butter substitutes in restaurants, which are not allowed unless a customer specifically requests it. This law has been in place since 1957 to protect the state's dairy industry. Violators can be fined up to $1,000 and imprisoned for up to three months.
Fotlösa
"Establishments need permission from the government to allow people to dance in Sweden."
~ Prudent_diagra
"Spontaneous dancing is allowed in Sweden, but if you had a dance floor and a DJ or live music, you had to have a permit to allow dancing."
"It was a silly law, but I think it had something to do with our strict alcohol laws that have different rules for restaurants, bars, dance halls, and so on."
~ Pretagonist
⭐️ The Swedish government repealed the law in 2023.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
"I learned that in Thailand, it’s illegal to step on the country’s currency—the baht."
"Doing it is considered disrespectful to the king, whose image is on the money."
~ SereneWes_
⭐️ Thailand rarely enforces their lèse–majesté laws on foreign tourists making unintended mistakes, but mishandling currency can offend Thai nationals, so tourists should consult resources for etiquette tips for a more harmonious visit.
The "Kim Jong Un" Is Not An Option
"In North Korea, there are 28 state-approved haircuts. 10 for men, 18 for women."
"Single women are allowed to have longer hair than married women."
"Also, the 'glorious', leader's haircut is not compliant with this law, because of course."
~ Standard_Pace_740
Fish Casual
"It is illegal to handle a salmon suspiciously in England."
~ Ned-Nedley
"In this particular case, it's not because of one weird incident."
"Handling salmon in suspicious circumstances was defined in law as 'when one believes, or could reasonably believe, that salmon has been illegally fished or that salmon—that has come from an illegal source—has been received, retained, removed, or disposed of'."
"Basically, there was a lot of salmon poaching happening that the government wanted to put a stop to."
~ dangerdee92
Pairs Or Play Dates
"I remember seeing something in Switzerland, where it’s illegal to own just one guinea pig. The law aims to prevent loneliness in the animals, as they are social creatures and thrive in pairs or groups."
~ -jjackk
⭐️ Swiss law designates guinea pigs as social creatures; under article 13 of Switzerland’s Animal Protection Ordinance (resource in German), social animals must be given adequate social contact with animals of the same species.
Whales In Kansas‽‽
"Apparently some landlocked US states in the interior of the country banned whaling."
"I actually want to know in a weird way why a state like Oklahoma or Nebraska, for example, had an issue with people whaling and why it had to be made illegal there."
~ llcucf80
⭐️ Whaling was banned federally in the United States in 1971 by the Pelly Amendment after several states enacted actual or symbolic bans. The 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act put further restrictions on whaling. Technically, it is illegal to hunt whales in all 50 states, including landlocked ones.
Root Beer Cheers Only 🍻
"In the Unitied States, I can enlist, train, and see combat in the armed forces, fly home after deployment, and still not be old enough to legally have a beer while talking about it."
~ SaphirrePetals
"Very true. When I was on active duty in the US Army in the late 80s, I went to Germany and was legally able to drink, but when I came back home to visit, all of a sudden I was too young to drink."
~ Mitch_shiver
⭐️ The minimum legal age to purchase alcohol is 21 in all U.S. states and most territories after passage of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1988, the minimum age for consumption varies greatly. Some states completely ban alcohol consumption for people under 18, the majority have exceptions such as religious purposes.
Look For A Loo
"In Spain its forbidden to pee into the ocean."
"The fines go from 750€ ($820) to way up to 1500€ ($1640)."
"But my question is, how do they want to control this law?"
~ Walkedarl
"The law is aimed more at drunks pissing on beaches and off of docks, piers, and seawalls into the ocean than at swimmers peeing while in the ocean."
~ Lampwick
Why Are They So Obsessed
"In Texas, it is illegal to own more than 6 d*ldos."
~ User75218
"I guess that explains why the GOP makes them Senators and Representatives—John Cornyn, Ted Cruz, Ronny Jackson, Dan Crenshaw, Chip Roy, Troy Nehls, Pete Sessions, etc...—and ships them off to Washington DC."
"Look, I just listed 7 Texas Republican d*ldos right off the top of my head."
~ LakotaGrl
🍆 Texas law regulates ownership and sale of sex toys, including dildos, and has been challenged in court multiple times. A person can't own more than six sex toys, unless they're selling them with a permit.
Giphy
An Actual Toss-Up Election
"In case of a tie in an election, a coin toss will be done to determine the winning candidate in the Philippines."
~ Aster_Alleje
⭐️ In 2013, 2016, and 2019, Philippine elections for mayor in San Teodoro in Mindoro, Bocaue in Bulacan, and Araceli in Palawan respectively were all decided by coin tosses.
A lot of laws people listed were debunked as urban legends, but here's a verified bonus entry from me.
Skamania County in Washington state adopted Sasquatch/Bigfoot protection ordinance 69-01 on April 1, 1969 (April Fool’s Day) declaring "any premeditated, willful and wanton slaying of any such creature shall be deemed a felony" with a punishment up to $10,000 and/or a five-year prison sentence.
According to Skamania County’s current ordinance list and disposition table, in 1984 the county created a "Sasquatch refuge." A few miles north, the Whatcom County Council approved a resolution declaring their county a "Sasquatch protection and refuge area" in 1991.
Has Scotland done the same for their resident cryptid?
What laws or ordinances would you add to the list?
