A big part of the issue is a series of local jurisdictions that don’t necessarily play well with each other or with the overlapping federal and state jurisdictions over certain roadways.
You might think it's easy to wind up getting a ticket if you're unfamiliar with an area and the signage is confusing or hard to spot, but that's hardly the only time travelers get in trouble. A big part of the issue is a series of local jurisdictions that don't necessarily play well with each other or with the overlapping federal and state jurisdictions over certain roadways. The result can lead to a confusing patchwork of enforcement, where behavior of one kind on an expressway through a city is legal but the same kind of passing or signaling doesn't fly in the nearby town after you exit. That's one of the more reasonable examples, too. While it can be easy to look at infractions per state, the kind of infraction matters when talking about whether the best way to reduce them is through enforcement or repeal.
Odd infractions you won't believe
If you are having a hard time imagining what kinds of laws you could break because you don't have a way to predict their strange demands without being educated in advance, here are some real examples to help you wrap your brain around this uniquely fun and frustrating phenomenon:
• In Arizona, only people under age 18 can ride a motorcycle without a helmet
• In Hawaii, it is legal to ride in a truck bed if and only if all the seat belts are in use by passengers already
• In Virginia, active statutes say women can't drive on Main Street unless their husbands walk in front of the car waving a red flag
• Frowning at a police officer is illegal if you're in New Jersey
• In Maine, it is illegal to park within 25 feet of the entrance of the Dunkin' Donuts stores in South Berwick only
While it's hard to believe some of these would actually be enforced, any of them could be as long as they are active statutes, and some of them are definitely the kind of thing travelers run into without knowing… like the Dunkin' Donuts-specific parking ordinance in just once town in Maine.
Avoiding oddball infractions
The U.S. Department of Transportation provides guidance to professional drivers for cargo carrying companies when they are driving in unfamiliar areas, and it's good advice for regular motorists to follow as well. Start by planning the route well, so you know where you will be stopping, when you will be on expressways versus local roads, and when you will be transitioning between states or other jurisdictions. That also gives you a way to plan out likely places to look for signage indicating speed limit changes and other notices about traffic infractions you might not be aware of. It's also a good idea to plan to stay on the expressway as much as possible when traveling a long distance because the traffic laws on expressways are pretty easy to pick up from signs and it tends to be the same throughout an entire state.
It also helps if you avoid speeding as a first line of defense. Many other infractions require you to park or engage with behavior that goes beyond driving, so if you can avoid being stopped when you don't want to be, then it will be almost impossible to commit them. With a little planning, you can avoid all these kinds of pitfalls.
