Want to avoid a driving fine in Botswana? You should probably leave your pet behind and ride your motorcycle solo. Drivers caught riding with an animal obstructing their view face a heavy fine, and possibly even prison time.
It’s just one of the five weirdest driving fines collected together by insurance price comparison site CompareTheMarket, which looked at some of the most obscure reasons you may get pulled over without realizing.
As automakers work to develop autonomous cars, these are the sort of rules that programmers will need to take on board to avoid breaking local laws. Tesla, for example, plans to launch a software update for its Autopilot system that enables fully autonomous driving, but if the car splashes a pedestrian in the Australian state of New South Wales, it could incur the user in the driver’s seat a hefty fine by accident. It’s these issues and more that companies will need to consider before rolling their systems out worldwide.
Here are five of the strangest driving fines:
Botswana
Botswana's driving fine.
Botswana’s Road Traffic Act states:
No animal shall be carried on a motor cycle in such a way as to obstruct the driver’s view or prevent his exercising complete control over such motor cycle.
This is a serious offense, as failure to comply could result in a large fine or between six to 24 months in prison.
Italy
Italy's driving fines.
In some roads, drivers must use snow chains even if there is no snow on the road. The Polizia Municipale of Verona states that a failure to comply could lead to a fine of up to €85 ($92).
New South Wales
New South Wales' fine.
The law in this Australian state is slightly confusing. Regulation 291-3 states that drivers must take due care not to splash mud on a person in, or waiting for, a bus. The fact that the regulation specifies pedestrians waiting for a bus seems to suggest that other pedestrians are fair game, but if you splash one at a bus stop, you face a penalty of 20 units. Each unit is AU$110, meaning users face a hefty fine of US$1,622 for non-compliance.
Russia
Russia's driving fine.
Russian road users face hefty fines if their car is dirty, so best to clean up ahead of time.
United Kingdom
THe United Kingdom's driving fine.
Honking your horn in a residential area can land you with a £100 fine.
