Silly laws

[Coemgen]

Tennessee
In Memphis, Tennessee, it is illegal for a woman to drive a car unless there is a man either running or walking in front of it waving a red flag to warn approaching motorists and pedestrians.

This shouldn't be included on the list, as it is not a stupid law.

[woodard]

You know, I've never heard that it's illegal to defend myself here, or that it's illegal for me to defend my home against an intruder. Both things I have done and never had the police I reported it to bat an eye.

I wasn't speaking of Scotland or Great Britain. I was speaking of three cases from England, specifically.

A few years ago, a farmer woke to the sounds of someone in his house. Upon investigation, he found an intruder in his kitchen.
The intruder grabbed a skillet and began beating the farmer. The farmer retreated, but the intruder continued the attack.
The farmer was able to reach his bird gun and shot the intruder. The intruder survived.
The farmer was charged and convicted for assault with a deadly weapon and is currently in prison.

Back in April, a young adult was walked out of a coffee house just in time to witness two strangers riding away on his scooter. He saw a peace officer down the block and ran to tell of the theft.
The peace officer asked if the two were wearing helmets. When he was informed that they weren't, he said that he couldn't give chase due to potential liability in the event of possible injuries should they crash during the pursuit.

Just last week, a father was about to go to bed when he heard a noise coming from an upstairs hall window. He went to check and saw a 19yo male, later discovered to be intoxicated, trying to break in the house.
The father ran back down stairs and out of the house in time to catch the young man as he jumped to the ground.
The 19yo took a couple of swings. A tussle ensued and the intruder broke free and ran. The father gave chase. In the mean time, the police had been called.
The father caught the intruder and marched him back to the waiting police.
The police noticed the 19yo had a fat lip from the earlier tussle. They arrested the father and he has been charged with assault.
The father, a government employee, is concerned for his job. Whether or not he is convicted.

I, seriously, wasn't taking a shot. Nor did I intend to offend. I was just pointing out that, on the absurdity scale, the fact that it's illegal to die in parliament didn't quite reach "most absurd law", as the article called it.

By the way, where you are, whaling is illegal. I know you have a big whale problem in Oklahoma.

Yeah. I thought that one a bit odd when I first heard about it.

[McClef]

That said, it is legal to pee on the back right hand wheel of a taxi, here. But only the back right hand wheel.

Not so much a stupid law this as a useful one in certain cases of necessity!

[Warlock]

This shouldn't be included on the list, as it is not a stupid law.

NO, you're just stupid if you try running in front of them waving ANYTHING! Tire marks are terribly difficult to get out of your kilt!

[Dirk Skene]

This shouldn't be included on the list, as it is not a stupid law.

OOOO. The girls here are gonna geeeettt youuuu.

[Coemgen]

OOOO. The girls here are gonna geeeettt youuuu.

This is why my dorm room has a secret escape route

[James MacMillan]

Grant - you amaze me!

[MacMoose]

Some interesting stuff there here is one I found for my home town:

It is illegal to ride a streetcar on Sunday if have been eating garlic in Toronto, Ontario,

If you have ever rode on the St. Clair West car thru the Italian neighbourhoods, you'd know why this law was created!

[Desert Celt]

having been stationed in England yes I've seen some silly (by our standards) stuff, but the one that takes the cake is a law here in the states, that says:

"it is illegal to shoot a whale from your car window while driving"

[TheKiltedWonder]

I know some of these laws seem so old, but stupid laws are passed all the time. Last year (or two years ago?) Williamsburg decided to pass a law to help them crack down on the "out of control" college kids. I know I'm biased, having gone to the college, but W&M is the only place I know that has the library packed on a Friday night and students waiting for it to open Saturday morning. Yeah, we'd have some fun, but as a whole we're pretty responsible.
Anyway, they decided to pass a law which couldn't be found discriminatory: gatherings of of 10 or more people that get cited for a noise complaint can result in a fine for everyone present. It was only after it passed that they realized it applies just as well to birthday parties and bar mitzvahs as well as college parties